There are a few nice surprises in “Oblivion,” a couple of reveals that the standard Sci-Fi nerdling should find satisfying. I will not spoil anything for you because, as you may know by now, I hate spoilers. The hatred for The Ruin came when I was told the Big Secret of “Fight Club” before viewing. You know, how Brad Pitt was really dead the entire time but the kid can see dead people so we don’t realize it until the very end (kidding). What I will say is that the commercials for this film hold enough spoiling to kick the steam out of some of the little fun “Oblivion” has to offer. Nice job, ad department.
While the story has its secrets, it is getting to them that’s the issue. The movie is paced like a swim in molasses, slogging along without any urgency. The dialogue…
(Beat)
Is delivered with horrendously long pauses.
(Coda)
Not only do we eventually get around to getting around to anything worthwhile after a while but we are not given much in terms of characters to care about. Our Great American Movie Star: Tom Cruise is Jack (a name, my wife is convinced, that was given to him to evoke her favorite character he played in the cult fantasy “Legend”. I don’t know about that but I do find it strange that the last three roles Mr. Cruise has played have been named Jack (“Oblivion”) Jack (“Jack Reacher”) and Stacee Jaxx (“Rock of Ages”). Coincidence? I vote: Yes.) and Jack is the last man on Earth. He likes to read books, fly around in his uber-sleek spaceship-thingie and he is a bore. The film’s only casting bright spot is the intriguing Andrea Riseborough. She plays Victoria, the last woman on Earth and she (with her doe-like eyes) is mesmerizing. But she sits at home pushing buttons while we follow boring, ol’ Jack around the planet for what seems like eons. “Oblivion” could have easily been called “Limbo” because it can feel like you are stuck in the nothing with no one to talk. Nice job, Joseph Kosinski.
Kosinski is the director and co-writer of “Oblivion” and blame him for the films short-comings. He is the man that brought us the graceless semi-blockbuster “Tron: Legacy”. Both “Tron” and “Oblivion” suffer from the same lifeless qualities. The man can show you a visually striking world but he cannot populate it. His characters are cardboard cutouts and when the film hits the third act, I could care less who lives or dies or (tease) dies to live again.
In case you’re still interested I will provide the requisite summary. It is 2077, 60 years after a battle with an alien force called Scavs that destroyed the planet. The moon is a smear across the night sky and its destruction caused earthquakes and tidal waves. During the fight, we nuked the planet and the remaining human race fled to the Saturn moon of Titan. But there is still some dirty work to be done and Jack and Victoria are left to defend some giant water-sucking equipment from the remaining Scavs.
There is a crash landing of a NASA space craft and Jack rescues the lovely Julia (Olga Kurylenko) from the wreckage. Lovely Julia looks just like the girl that Jack has been dreaming about and holds the key to a forgotten past. And it is here that the film takes a huge logic leap that is just too ridiculous to swallow. Thanks to Brad Pitt I will say no more (see the beginning to the article) but the plot has huge holes that kills what fun the few surprises deliver.
