 Tagline: Earth is a memory worth fighting for. Set on a future Earth, civilization lives above the clouds and scavengers collect ancient artifacts from the polluted surface below. An earthbound soldier, who is stuck there repairing drones that patrol and blast a savage alien life form, encounters a beautiful woman who crashed in a craft and they have an experience that forces him to question his world view. Storyline: One of the few remaining drone repairmen assigned to Earth, its surface devastated after decades of war with the alien Scavs, discovers a crashed spacecraft with contents that bring into question everything he believed about the war, and may even put the fate of mankind in his hands. Written by Black Dahlia Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown on July 26, 2013 -- Too. Much. Movie. There's a lot to admire about Oblivion. An at-times bold resistance to sci-fi convention, striking visual design and effects (both practical and computer-generated), thrilling action, stunning vistas and set pieces, an unorthodox structure, a unique alien attack and invasion overmind, a pulsing original score, and a host of other interesting ideas. Unfortunately, there are so many ideas crammed into Oblivion's slight 125-minute frame -- most of which aren't fleshed out or explored to any satisfying cerebral ends -- that the film buckles under the sheer weight of it all, collapsing in on itself by its climactic but convoluted endgame. Earth, 2017. Alien invaders dubbed Scavengers destroy the moon, wreaking havoc on the planet and leaving it in ruin. After a bitter war, the surviving humans manage to route and expel the bulk of the invasion force, and spend the next sixty years constructing a massive ship -- the Tet -- designed to relocate humanity to a colony on Titan, Jupiter's largest moon. Fast forward to 2077. Technician Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and communications officer Vica Olsen (Andrea Riseborough) oversee the maintenance and repair of drones that patrol and protect Zone 49, an area where enormous generators convert sea water into energy for the Tet. However, a remnant of surface-dwelling Scavs has been launching guerrilla attacks on human drones and installations with alarming frequency, and it's up to Jack to prevent them from causing any further delay in the Tet's fueling. Note: spoilers are all but unavoidable when discussing 'Oblivion' at any length. While I've made every effort to avoid revealing major plot points or revelations, I do allude to certain developments and address notable plot twists. The best way to experience 'Oblivion' is to go in with as little foreknowledge as possible. Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski's loose, live-action adaptation of Pixar's Wall-E... or rather the young filmmaker's 2005 illustrated novel turned big budget mid-April tentpole had the misfortune of being introduced to audiences with a string of theatrical trailers that gave away far too many details about the second and third acts of the story. Had key twists and turns been cloaked in secrecy -- for starters, the presence of any surviving human element on the surface -- the film might have made a bigger impact. Instead, the "alien" menace is a transparent one, and it comes as no surprise when the massive ship hovering above the planet is revealed to be something other than mankind's salvation. The other non-surprise is the truth of Jack and Vica's enlistment and mission, the details of which bear uncanny similarities to a more minimalistic but far superior recent film I'll link to rather than name. The irony, of course, is how much of Kosinski's humans vs. scavs actioner has been scavenged from richer, more fully realized science fiction, and just how often Oblivion, for all its seeming inventiveness and undeniably breathtaking visuals, is revealed to be a wholly ordinary amalgamation of more thought-provoking genre classics. Worse, plot holes abound -- among them a few story-killers I can't even hint at without offering up sensitive information -- and Jack is a conundrum in and of himself that doesn't hold up well to repeat viewings. It's also somewhat irritating that any and every problem in Kosinski's dystopian future can apparently be solved by a fist or firearm, up to and including the finale, when The Almighty Nuke is called upon to save the human race. (Though not uniquely American, The Almighty Nuke has become the deus ex machina du jour in American action/sci-fi cinema. Pacific Rim anyone?) Literally every moment of change, conflict or catharsis hinges on a weapon or One 'Splosion to Rule Them All. Now, I'm as much a fan of Big Dumb Fun as the next guy, but Kosinski isn't aiming for Big Dumb Fun... which is precisely what makes the big, dumb, and fun in Oblivion feel so alien, not to mention so alienating. As a high-concept, low-payout actioner, though, Oblivion delivers the spoils of war and then some. Visually, it's one of the most enthralling films of the year, with a dazzling clash between disheveled dystopian landscapes and white-washed Apple Inc. design; one that pits the evocative against the utilitarian in increasingly disarming ways. Kosinski's bright, sun-bathed exteriors fly in the face of the moody, shadow-slathered sci-fi dystopias to which we're most accustomed, and his practical sets are as engaging as the CG flyovers that provide breakneck glimpses at the broken planet. The actors are secondary to the immersiveness of the world, sadly, and Morgan Freeman is all but wasted as Malcolm Beach, a bit part that could have been carried by anyone with enough age and gravitas. But Cruise, no stranger to big budget action, holds his own, even as Riseborough (the weight and conflict behind those eyes!), Olga Kurylenko (the heft and heart she brings!) and Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (the only convincing man of conviction in Malcolm's band of outlaws!) steal the show from their A-list co-stars. If Oblivion were a more emotionally complex, character-driven piece, if it took more time with its world and survivors, if it narrowed its focus to any one of the six sci-fi movies struggling for dominance, the resulting Tom Cruise vehicle might have been something special. Alas, it lacks substance and boasts a superficial sheen; a highly reflective, thematically inert glossiness ever at odds with the grand ideas at its core. I wanted to fall for Kosinski's dystopian epic. Instead, I munched mindlessly on my popcorn, enjoyed a decent sci-fi actioner, and went home imagining the incredible classic Oblivion could have been. Oblivion suffers from too many competing elements, an overcrowded screenplay, and underdeveloped ideas. To swipe a line, "we are not an effective team." And yet the film and its young director have high aspirations, many of which pay off. The production design is outstanding. The world, its invaders and some of the paths the story follows are absorbing. And the cast gives their all, even when the script is lacking. Still, by movie's end, I found myself pining for the film Oblivion should have been rather than mulling over the film that was. With a more seasoned director and a few targeted rewrites, it could have been one of the finest sci-fi masterpieces in recent memory. Fortunately, Universal's Blu-ray release treats Oblivion as if it were just that. With a jaw-dropping top tier video transfer, an equally magnificent DTS-HD Master Audio surround track, and a solid selection of supplemental material (including an excellent 50-minute production documentary and an audio commentary with Kosinski and Cruise), the Blu-ray edition of Oblivion brushes shoulders with the best Blu-ray releases of the year thus far. It may not be a must-own release, but it's certainly a must-see. (Based on Comic Book) Cast Notes: Tom Cruise (Jack), Morgan Freeman (Beech), Olga Kurylenko (Julia), Andrea Riseborough (Victoria), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Sykes), Melissa Leo (Sally), Zoe Bell (Kara), Abigail Lowe (Julia's Child), Isabelle Lowe (Julia's Child), David Madison (Grow Hall Survivor). IMDb Rating (08/03/13): 7.1/10 from 115,469 users IMDb Rating (04/25/13): 7.2/10 from 43,375 users
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