Directed by:
Joseph KosinskiCinematography:
Claudio MirandaCast:
Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Ольга Куриленко, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Andrea Riseborough, Zoë Bell, Melissa Leo, James Rawlings, Booch O'Connell (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Tom Cruise stars in Oblivion, an original and groundbreaking cinematic event from the director of TRON: Legacy and the producer of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man's confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind. Jack Harper (Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack's mission is nearly complete. Living in and patrolling the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above, his soaring existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (13)
The mood-setting question provoking intimate first half with the visions of a postapo janitor is in sharp qualitative contrast to the second, cheap action-ridden (stupidly) explanatory half. And it just has no idea when to stop all of this with honor and so the hitherto pleasant Cruise is now faced with emotional scenes that mostly go wrong or else he becomes immediately out-acted by everybody, even the GLaDOS/Sponge Bob duo. The second half is simply a regular product, which just cannot be said of the first half. In any case, in terms of visuals, design, sound and music this is on a level rarely seen of late.
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The main reason that Oblivion will fade from the viewer’s consciousness faster than TRON is not that Kosinski steals from his colleagues (Stanton, Jones, Lawrence, Trumbull, Kubrick, the Wachowskis), thus making it apparent how inferior he is as a storyteller, but that he steals from himself. The original wow effect is diminished significantly by the repetition of the same approach, especially in a world without the possibility of “edit levels”, which was a boon for video-game designers and fans. However, that effect was powerful enough to keep me entertained for the whole two hours, intoxicated by the film’s audio-visual perfection. Kosinski’s nerdish approach to the characters makes a human a bearer of meanings comparable in value to a robot, landscape or piece of furniture (while being at the same level with his significantly limited use of common sense). The geometric compositions of the shots, whose actual content becomes less substantial than the surface message, are more important than words and emotions. Everything and everyone serves to complement the overall design, to which the protagonists’ motivations and the direction of the plot are subordinated. The final scene, which shows us that we have probably misdirected our emotions, can be understood as a mockery of the standard “entry” into the story through identification with the characters. Kosinski is uniquely capable of connecting movement with sound, which is “applied” to the picture in individual layers, and the result is the same as in TRON, a mainstream variation on an audio-visual symphony. The plot is a bit too much, though without it (and without Cruise and his varying uncomprehending expression) a $120 million project like this would not have been made. However, I wouldn’t underrate the film as a whole because of its lifeless characters, unoriginal subject or illogical actions, because on another level it offers an inspiring statement on the current social reality of efficient working teams, to which people devote themselves to such an extent that they lose their identity in them together with their ability to live authentically. The first half of film, devoid of plot (and thus better), with its parody of the perfect partnered relationship and its depiction of a work activity that involves only maintenance with no particular goal or chance of real (and potentially dangerous to the system) change of conditions, says more about today’s world than many art films with an uglier design. And Oblivion is definitely a film made for IMAX! 80%
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What’s more important for a film, to tell a story or to visualise it? Both are, no doubt; there’s no objective answer, and yet, in the lay debates among film fans the prevailing idea is that an exceptionally narrated story = elaborated art, and perfect visuals = just expensive commerce. That’s often the case, of course, but we shouldn’t generalise. Oblivion is a film with amazing visuals, with this I don’t mean that it “looks expensive”, I’m judging the aesthetics of images and scenes – the swimming pool scene will be one of the highlights of the year. To some extent, it’s similar to Prometheus – you can pick on the details of the story until the end of days, if that’s your thing, but the source of an aesthetic experience lies elsewhere, as does the source of an intellectual one. Oblivion is smart sci-fi (actually, there hasn’t been such pure sci-fi for a long time, fans of Clark must be happy!) that in its higher level offers a lot of food for thought – the good side of all proper sci-fi, greetings to Star Wars… :D PS: I want Kosinski to adapt “Rendezvous with Rama”!!!
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Lots of mysterious promises, but (mainly because of the stupid trailers) few surprises, lots of questions, but few answers (i.e., few answers that don't feel like they've been hastily pulled out of thin air)... Fortunately, everything is impressively crafted, the design of all the machines, buildings and weapons is a joy to behold, Tom Cruise is likeable, whilst the music is pleasantly meditative, though nothing memorable. Three and a half stars. I preferred Elysium, which didn't try to be something it wasn’t for most of its duration.
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It already seemed that the timeline was falling apart and the individual actions and twists were contradicting each other, but Joseph Kosinski proved that he could pull it off. And that when he spent so many years trying to promote his material, he knew what he was doing. However, the real surprise remains the fact that more than the sci-fi touch or a successful romantic storyline, the central message about the power of spirit and human determination stays with me. It is precisely here that the gamble on an aging Tom Cruise proved to be a perfect hit. His Jack Harper is occasionally written as a relatively two-dimensional character, but Tom's acting makes him an admirable hero in the end.
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Gallery (101)
Photo © Universal Pictures
![Oblivion - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/120/458/120458611_8022ed.jpg)
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