Oblivion (2013)

Josephy Kosinski is building up to be a specialist in Science Fiction cinema.  First there was Tron Legacy, now Oblivion and the grapevine suggests that he has already been roped in for the sequel to Tron.  One thing is for sure, Kosinski can dish out an absolute visual treat.  If only, he was supported with even average stories like Tron.

Oblivion’s gap, for my monies worth, comes in the extremely weak story line.  The world as we know it, has come to an end around sixty years back where a bunch of aliens who are now called the Scavengers aka Scavs have half blown our moon and earth has suffered a similar fate.

 

The Scavs are now harnessing our water resources through fusion by using reactors that are the shape of inverted pyramids and the size of the ones found @ Giza.  Also, the world has been ravaged by Tsunamis and desert storms and is half covered with sand now that has reached the level of the watch tower on the Empire State Building.

 

Completing the picture are 2 individuals – Jack (Tom Cruise) and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) who are Technician and Communications Officer respectively. Their job is to ensure that the reactors are protected.  They also have to repair any drones that may get damaged in day to day life.

 

But Jack suffers from flashes of a woman’s face who looks extremely familiar to him but is unable to place her.  The dream, however turns into a reality when a space ship crashes in an unimportant sector.  When Jack reaches the site, he finds a few caskets strewn around.  One of them with the same girl that flashes in his dreams.

 

Oblivion, as mentioned earlier, has some really good effects.  However, the story is uninspiring and doesn’t grab you at any point of time.  It doesn’t keep you riveted to the screen.  And after a while, it starts seeming like a drag.  The editing is also not so great and it doesn’t help that the movie is longer than 2 hours.

 

And then there are the complex terms that are thrown around as if it is regular language used in our day to day lives.  The average movie goer would be lost half the time.  Tom Cruise doesn’t quite help the cause.  50 year old eye candy is definitely not the in thing these days.  Overall, an average watch with great effects.  Maybe IMAX would be great.  Regular screen – nothing you would miss.  5 on 10.

 

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi498116121/?ref_=tt_ov_vi