Oblivion

Nothing to do with The Elder Scrolls, the film Oblivion is an epic post-apocalyptic sci-fi that it is no surprise was based on what was going to be a graphic novel by Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski. It has a whole lot of visual appeal, some decent performances and some great action sequences, but it was very much lacking in soul and had a twist that was far too obvious, telegraphed from very early on by tell-tale signs like ‘our memories were wiped’ and ‘in two weeks our mission will be over and we will rejoin the rest of humankind’, which set warning bells ringing after having seen the likes of Moon and Cloud Atlas and, indeed, having played Portal. And I must say, Moon did a lot more with the idea.

Tom Cruise’s character lives in a very clean, glassy futuristic apartment with his lover/coworker, maintaining drones to protect huge machines that are taking the water from Earth for a mass migration to Titan. Scrabbling on the surface and trying to capture him are the ‘scavs’, aliens who have lost the war that destroyed the moon and killed most of the human population. Everything changes, of course, when a beacon set up by the scavs brings down a ship with another survivor.

In the end there are many twists but also many plot holes. Why don’t the scavs just take their masks off when the drones aren’t around but Tom Cruise’s character is? How did the flight recorder found in the sleep capsule record things after the capsule was detached. And most pressingly, if Morgan Freeman saw the thousands he described pouring out, presumably all of whom were needed in active service, where are the rest at the end?

But the main problems are not plot holes – they’re really that between the exciting sequences are long stretches that get tedious – without really likeable characters to carry them forward, despite Tom Cruise’s remarkably youthful looks at half a century old. Too much is clinical and detached, including Morgan Freeman who until his last scenes is doing a totally unnecessary take on Morpheus from The Matrix – a clear influence here.

For some, the lush visuals, nice use of classic rock (Procul Harem!) and the impressive CG will carry the film. Others will find it tedious. But I really doubt any will get emotionally invested, or consider it a masterpiece.