Oblivion
Starring: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman
Directed By: Joseph Kosinski
Reviewed by Danielle Muir

[rating: 4/5]

There’s quite a slew of promising sci-fi’s being released in 2013 with Elysium, Star Trek: Into Darkness and After Earth all hitting the screens in a few months – one of the first out of the gate (bar Cloud Atlas) is Oblivion, the latest offering from Tron Legacy’s Joseph Kosinski.  Instead of the explosion littered, action-packed film everyone believes they’ll see due to the trailer, we’re presented instead with more of a psychological exercise into Tom Cruises’ Jack Harper – the last man tasked with drone repair on an obliterated earth.  With the solid first half unfolding methodically and gradually, be prepared to have to wait until the very end for your questions to be answered.  Make sure your brain is on the ball to keep up with the barrage of information your fed in the latest half hour as well.  This does sound like an effort, but the pay-off is worth the mind matter.

From the advertisements we gather that this is a film about Jack Harper, one of the last men on earth tasked with repairing drones who constantly has to battle his way out of brutal situations with rogue aliens until they ascend to the planet ‘Titanium’ like the rest of humanity.  In fact, this is far from what we’re delivered.  Cruises’ Harper has a rather solitary existence – sure, he’s shacked up with the other half of his ‘effective team’  Victoria, but Jack can’t shake the figure of a mysterious brunette haunting his dreams.  And there inlies the plot – this is a film about Harper uncovering not only the true meaning of his life’s task, but the purpose of his existence itself and how he became his current profession.  There’s scarcely any action in the first 30 minutes, as they set up not only the parameters of their mission, but explore (in stunning detail) the desolated ruin of earth, after humanity “won the war but lost the planet” with its invaders.  All throughout Cruise pines for the world he vaguely remembers (having undergone a memory wipe) with classic memorabilia such as a New York Yankees cap or various books he scavenges.

In fact, most of the reveals are done quickly in the last 45 minutes or so – both a positive and negative because whilst you may struggle to keep up with the pieces connecting, it feels highly rewarding when the puzzle’s complete.  The writers have created quite an intricate and delicate way of presenting the aftermath of an intergalactic war – you just have to have the patience for it.

As I said the CGI is flawless – ruins of the Golden Gate Bridge, Harper and Victoria’s uber-futuristic house suspended by a mechanical arm above a hilltop, the immense space-bound human refuge of the everything in the environment looks as though this is what Earth 2077 could be.  Every piece of furniture, every vehicle and robot seems in place.  But the real standout is the drones – not only are their designs simple but highly realistic, the sound design behind them is truly terrifying with their low guttural beeps and red lights.  Even if you aren’t a sci-fi fan or aren’t engaged with the story, just look at the film for two and a half hours and be dazzled by the incredible step forward in CGI and resolution that we’re witnessing.

Oblivion is definitely a psychological sci-fi that not only delivers a mind-bending plot, but sets it in an incredibly coherent and visceral world.  The brain power that you use keeping up with the film’s barrage of information in the last part is certainly worth it.  A must-see for any sci-fi or visual effects fans.