Movie Review: Oblivion
Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is a man who yearns for the past. You can’t really blame him. In 2077, the year in which Oblivion takes place, Harper’s Earth is a desolate wasteland that was ravaged sixty years ago by a nuclear war with an alien race called the Scavengers (or “Scavs” for short). We’re given a concise yet informative history Oblivion’s world through a voice-over from our protagonist. Throughout this narration we are treated to some stunning landscapes of this bleakly beautiful world, which happens again and again throughout the course of the film. The fact that as a sci-fi film, a relatively large portion of this movie was filmed practically rather than relying on computer generated images makes these landscapes all the more impressive.
Spending most of his time at the top of a tower a mile above the ground with his communications officer (and lover) Victoria, Harper relishes in his trips to the surface to perform maintenance on mechanical drones that patrol for remaining Scavs on Earth. He clearly feels at home in the barren landscape that that is now Earth; it is his only connection to the world before the war. A world he has no knowledge or memory of since not only was it before his time, but as part of the his position as a technician he underwent a mandatory memory wipe to keep information out of the Scavs’ hands if he were to be captured... Yet he does have memory of this world. They’re only fleeting images of a woman and a city, but they’re definitely there. Yet how does he have these memories of a world that he is too young to have ever been a part of? This is just one of many questions that Oblivion presents us with.
Throughout the course of the film we of course come face-to-face with not only the Scavs, but the mysterious woman from Jack’s memories as well. But when these events occur, they only raise more questions instead of giving us answers. Something I think is taken for granted in movies today is the fact that quality exposition results in a big payoff. Oblivion is definitely a prime example of this; more than halfway through the movie we are still being presented with new questions. Everything that Jack Harper knows about his seemingly straightforward world is turned upside down and thrown into doubt, and more layers to the mystery are constantly being exposed. If there is one thing that Oblivion gets right, it’s pacing. The film has got a great flow; all scenes, whether they be expository or action-oriented, are engaging and constantly moving the story forward.
The only real problem some people might have with Oblivion’s story is that it is somewhat predictable. Most of the mysteries that we are presented with have foreseeable outcomes in at least some way. However, Oblivion is definitely not guilty of having a cookie-cutter plot stolen from other similar films. In fact, these “borrowed” scenarios are part of what makes the movie so good. The entire film is full of familiar concepts and elements from other sci-fi films. Rather than being tossed into a blender and dumped into the script, these scenarios are deftly molded together in such a way that they way they strengthen the emotional core of the film. Even though we are not surprised by most of the revelations when they come, the fact that we have been along for the ride with Jack and endured question after question in his puzzling journey, we get the same emotional gratification as he does when it finally begins to unravel and make sense.
The concept of Oblivion borrowing elements from other sci-fi films does not stop with the story; there are visual references to other science fiction films as well. Chief among the films alluded to is the king of all sci-fi films: Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, which has inspired the look and feel of so many other films in the genre as well. The futuristic decor of Harper’s sky tower is reminiscent of many of the set pieces in 2001. Not only is the name of a space ship in Oblivion called the Odyssey, but the rotating, circular interior of the craft is reminiscent of the Discovery One in Kubrick’s film. Even one of our first glimpses at Cruise in the futuristic Earth features him exercising by running on a type of hamster wheel contraption, which is similar to our introduction to 2001’s Dave Bowman, who is first shown while using centrifugal force to run around the interior of his ship in a similar fashion. And later on in Oblivion there are also visual and thematic nods to the Monolith and HAL 9000 of 2001.
Oblivion is like a love letter to science fiction films, culling together many of our favorite visual and narrative devices associated with the genre and forming them into one sprawling, epic, and ultimately original story. There are some plot holes you’ll find when you start thinking about the story after the film ends but the story is so engaging that you’ll hardly notice as you’re watching the movie, and the film as a whole is so entertaining and beautiful to see and hear that you won’t even care.
Grade: A-
Oblivion
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Written by: Joseph Kosinski, William Monahan, Karl Gujdusek, Michael Arndt
Starring: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman
Release date: April 19, 2013
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