By Wayne C. Rogers
Starring Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko and Andrea Riseborough
Directed by and co-written for the screen by Joseph Kosinski
Running time: 127 minutes
The story of Oblivion takes place in 2077.
Sixty years before, when a U.S. spacecraft was sent to one of Saturn’s moons, the astronauts encountered a monstrous alien spacecraft that later attacked earth for its sources of energy. The humans eventually won the battle, but earth was supposedly destroyed in the process with large parts of it becoming radioactive and uninhabitable.
Now, in 2077, Jack Harper (Cruise) and Victoria (Andra Riseborough) guard a Resource Gathering Stations in the New York City sector of the country, protecting it against attack by the alien scavs. We get to see the ugly future of the Big Apple whenever Jack flies over it in his rather unusual aircraft. Harper also fixes the mechanical drones that hover around the area, destroying the scavs when they show themselves. Of course, the drones are being constantly shot down, or they simply break down from use and Jack has to fix them. The drones play an avid role in the film because they prevent Jack from learning the truth about who the scavs are and what really happened on earth.
To get away from the stress and mundane existence that he has with Victoria, Jack has a hidden getaway that’s located somewhere in an obscure valley along the Hudson River. He vanishes to his home away from homes for long stretches of time, causing Victoria to wonder about what he’s doing during those periods. It’s a small cabin-like house that he built by hand, and it’s where he stores the many books and unusual things he discovers throughout the war-torn city of New York. It’s also a place of peace that’s right on a river and is surrounded by lush trees and beautiful landscaping. Jack has many questions, but no answers, and the time is quickly coming when his life will be turned upside down.
Through a set of unexpected circumstances, Jack will find out who the scavs really are, and that will force him to make a decision about his immediate future.
Another thing which should be point out is that though Jack’s memory has wiped clean for whatever reason, he’s now having dreams of a beautiful lady in New York before it’s destroyed. He doesn’t know who she is, but he instinctively realizes she is important to his life and that he loves her.
As the old saying goes, when shit happens, it hits you in a big way.
Now, let me briefly discuss the good things about the movie.
The special effects are truly awesome, including the Resource Stations, the module where and Jack & Victoria (his supposed to be mate) live, the drones, the destroyed city of New York, and the aircraft that Jack flies and the cool motorcycle he rides when over the rough terrain. The alien spacecraft at the end is also great to look at. It reminded me somewhat of the giant mother ship we see at the end of the movie, Independence Day.
I enjoyed Tom Cruise performance. He carried most of the movie on his shoulders, and if you didn’t believe in his character, then the rest of the film was difficult to swallow.
Still, the problem with Oblivion is the story itself.
It seemed to me that the movie was a conglomerate of several films, bringing bits and pieces of each to make the whole of this particular movie. Like the lead character, I had a dozen questions by the end of the film and no answers. I’m sure I’m not the only one who had this problem. It’s possible that in time a DVD will come out with an extra thirty-to-forty-five minutes added to the film that explains many of the exact questions I had, but until that date comes, I have to shake my head and wonder what was going through the director’s mind.
I know the movie has done well during the last three weeks since it opened, and that is largely due to Tom Cruise and his acting ability. The trailer is also good and somewhat misleading. It makes you want to see the film, but for all the wrong reasons.
Is Oblivion worth seeing? Yes.
Tom Cruise does such a fine job in his role as Jack Harper that I would recommend seeing it for that reason alone. However, I would also suggest that the viewer that to see a matinee so they can save some money off the ticket price.
I have to tell you that I knew pretty much what was going to happen within the first half hour of the movie. I knew who the lady in Jack Harper’s dream was and who the scavs really were. Similar things took place in Total Recall. With that in mind, there was very little in the way of surprises, which I think can be a death sentence for a movie like this.
Would I want to see the movie a second time? No.
Well, not unless a much longer version of it comes out on DVD in the near future…a version that answers many of the questions I had.
Only time will tell if a longer version of the movie will be released. I’m still waiting for a longer version of Prometheus, hoping to have my questions answered about that film.
Miracles do occasionally happen.
