Oblivion (2013)
The Future’s White
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough,
Morgan Freeman.
Plot: After an alien race renders the Earth inhabitable,
the human race migrates to Saturn’s moon, Titan. Left on Earth to maintain
energy production for the moon, Jack Harper (Cruise) and Victoria (Riseborough)
are the last two people on the planet. Or so they think.
VISIONARY director Joseph Kosinsky takes another stab at
creating a futuristic sci-fi with Oblivion, based on a graphic novel he wrote but
supposedly never published. His last work was his directorial debut, Tron
Legacy – which was an ambitious flop haunted by stunted characters and an
awkward script. Unfortunately, Oblivion follows suit.
Tom
Cruise stars as Tom Cruise, playing another Jack, again struggling to fit into
a role that hides his fame. The Jack is question is Jack Harper, a maintenance
man situated on an apocalyptic Earth in charge of repairing and monitoring
drones designed to guard tidal energy- processing machines that somehow send
said energy to Saturn’s moon Titan, where the rest of humanity has retreated.
After an alien invasion that was preluded with the destruction of the moon
(thus upsetting the planet’s gravity causing earthquakes and tsunamis), humans
nuked the place to rid the Earth of the. Them, the invaders, called
‘Scavengers’ by man, live underground, bent on sabotaging the energy operations
that keep mankind alive in distant space. The story itself has some plot holes
and jogs ahead of the audience at times, as well as being predictable and quite
obviously inspired by similar films, (Moon, 2001: A Space Odyssey, even WALL-E)
but is decent enough.
In
fact, the first 25 minutes or so are the most enjoyable, in which Harper
embodies a futuristic Will Smith of I Am Legend, drifting around the nuclear
wasteland repairing drones and reminiscing ‘classic’ football games circa pre-apocalypse.
These things take place in either very barren, dry exteriors or very clean,
shiny, and rather white interiors. If there’s anything we’ve learned about the
future from sci-fi, it’s that it’s very white. A lot of effort goes into
Oblivion’s visuals, including a pretty cool fragmented moon, but not enough in
characters or their dialogue. Jack’s partner, Victoria, played by Andrea
Riseborough, brings a more human dynamic to the film, even with some dodgy
dialogue. Oblivion looks quite promising up until it starts to creak under the
story’s weight, its tangled and half-baked details slowly drifting from
viewers’ attention, who by the third act, become aware of its uncertain
direction and running time.
Eventually
Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko make their entrances, but fail to add
anything other than story propulsion to the mix. Oblivion could be described as
an empty shell – it’s a fairly decent narrative, but lacks subtlety, message
(which could be the irresponsibility, vulnerability, or subordination of
humanity), and character exploration, using its exterior qualities as a driving
force. Riseborough, Kurylenko and Cruise do well considering the film’s
two-dimensionality, but see Oblivion for extended immersive and indulgent
visuals that caught your attention in the trailer.
VERDICT: Kosinski handles the scale of his tale well, but the
acute details of his characters aren’t touched upon. That said, it turns out
alright, despite a shaky script and a messy finale. ★★★
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