Review: OBLIVION

It’s been a while…

Tom-Cruise-Oblivion-wallpapers-2

I first wrote about Oblivion back in December of 2012. I was excited about the premise, and I made five predictions on why it would be awesome. So, was I right?

Prediction 1: Tom Cruise does good sci-fi.
Yes, he does.

Prediction 2: It’s ‘WALL-E with guns’.
It is, and it isn’t. But as I said before: that’s no bad thing. This film borrows from many great sci-fi flicks actually, and the end result is better for it.

Prediction 3: It’s directed by Joseph Kosinski, so it’s bound to be good.
Kosinski’s last film was Tron: Legacy (which I loved) and there are echoes of that futuristic world scattered throughout. Again, this is no bad thing. The elder Kevin Flynn would live well in this universe, and he would approve of the decisions ultimately made there. Kosinski has a great eye and everything from the light used in the flying craft (see image above) to the base stations where our protagonist lives, has the touch of a talented sci-fi director. Good work sir.

Prediction 4: This future is imagined properly.
The year is 2070, the Earth is a barren wasteland, and yet the small areas we see are fully-fleshed out. To go into more detail would give away key plot parts of the film. Let’s just say that you believe that the Earth could end up this way; the vision of the Moon in this future is incredibly realised.

Prediction 5. I am a geek, so I’m definitely going to like it.
Right and wrong. I didn’t like this film because I’m a geek. I didn’t like this film because I’m a massive Tom Cruise fan (there, I said it). I liked this film because, as much as I was annoyed about the Morgan Freeman reveal shown in some (most/all) of the trailers, it still had so much left to show me. It just kept going, and going, and going, and going…

In closing, I really enjoyed Oblivion. Tom Cruise is great as Jack Harper and Andrea Riseborough is great (if not, better) as his tech-partner Victoria. Olga Kurylenko is OK, and the rest just serve to keep the plot moving forward.

For the nay-sayers out there you’ll be pleased to know there isn’t much TOM CRUISE RUNNING and there isn’t much TOM CRUISE BEING TOM CRUISE either. Oblivion is a well shot, well-directed, and well-thought through piece of sci-fi and definitely worth seeing big and loud.

The end.

 

Also in cinemas: TRANCE [terrible film, don’t bother].

 

 

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Author: James Whatley

Chief Strategy Officer in adland. I got ❤️ for writing, gaming, and figuring stuff out. I'm @whatleydude pretty much everywhere that matters. Nice to meet you x

6 thoughts on “Review: OBLIVION”

  1. I was starting to fear, about an hour in, that it was going to be fairly generic sci-fi; pretty, but nothing to wow me. I was wrong – the final act (acts?) pretty much floored me – and I came out mouth agape. There’s so much more than the trailers suggest, or anyone should hint at without spoiling it, but I’m glad I expected little, and got so much out of it in the end.

    I would say that I think some people might think it a bit long, and various bits could be trimmed out, and to them I say; think of Oblivion as Oblivion The Director’s Cut – if it was a 90 minute film, you’d want more, and gladly watch the 2 hour cut on BluRay…

  2. I liked it. I love future versions of the earth, especially half-destroyed ones. I love big tech. I LOVED the view of the destroyed moon. I think the scenery was incredible. yeah, the story was what it was, and I was a bit disappointed how Morgan Freeman was used. But overall, this one was for me.

    I was wondering how long it’ll take before we’d see a naked upper body shot of Tom Cruise, and he didn’t disappoint. lol

  3. I thought there was quite a bit of Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise, but it’s broken up into small chunks so it’s not too bothersome.

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