Oblivion - Apocalyptic Cruising

Tom Cruise - love him or hate him, he is without doubt the biggest and perhaps most influential movie star on the planet. Despite this however, he seems to be an actor of great humility and has a clear love for his craft. To top it off, he's given us some great performances over a staggering thirty years (Rain Man, Jerry Maguire, Interview with the Vampire). Forget all that Scientology stuff and what you have is one of the all time greats. Thus, in the mood for a piece of out of this world escapism, I entered the cinema this week the eagerest of beavers! A veritable whore for all things dystopian I was rather looking forward to seeing Mr. Cruise save the day (again!). 

The plot sees Cruise play Jack (what a nice name!) Harper, literally the last man on Earth. The planet has been destroyed by a nuclear apocalypse and subsequent alien invasion, resulting in humanity flying the nest to Titan, a moon of Saturn - as you would. Cruise's Harper is left behind to maintain the 'drones', flying weapons designed to defend the planet from any hostile creatures left on the planet. Cruise is coupled with Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), his eyes in the sky who keeps an watch over him whilst he is down on the ground. Then on a routine repair job Cruise sees objects falling from the sky and comes across a crashed craft that happens to be carrying Olga Kurylenko's Julia, coincidentally the same woman Harper has been seeing in a dream of a life in pre-war New York. Julia's arrival prompts Harper to rethink everything he has been told about what really happened to Earth and begin to question the very nature of his existence.

Now, I always try to look for the positive any film I watch but sadly in the case of Oblivion, the bad rather outweighs the good. As with waxing one's legs however, I shall get the bad over with in one quick flash. It all falls down to the script. Obviously redrafted several times, holes pop up in greater quantity than overtime at the Polo factory. It feels heavy and laboured and everything is left until virtually the end to be explained, and even then not very clearly. It's a script that had so much potential but sadly fails to deliver.

The film's saving grace is it's visuals. The barren, radiation-ridden terrain looks hauntingly beautiful, all down to excellent cinematography and effects. Derelict remains of famous New York skyscrapers litter the terrain in which Cruise patrols, adding an uncomfortable look at a major metropolis brought to its feet. 

Cruise does what he always does in this type of film - runs around a lot with a stern face, rides motorbikes and makes us all wonder how the hell that man can be fifty years old! Out of the two female leads, Riseborough walks away with the film, her crisp English accent slightly jarring in this post-apocalyptic USA, adding to the slightly cold and detached element of her character. Kurylenko does much the same as she did with Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace; look attractive by the side of the hero and ultimately provide a love interest to the story, which is a shame given Kurylenko being evidently capable of much more. The real travesty of this film however, has to be in the miscasting of Morgan Freeman. A man who can do no wrong, Freeman is utterly wasted in an underdeveloped role that could easily have gone to someone of much lesser stature. However, as with any film Freeman graces with his talent, gravitas is always brought to the screen. Melissa Leo also provides a chilling supporting role, only ever appearing on screen, as Sally, Jack and Victoria's superior giving instructions from above. 

Ultimately, I have to say I was disappointed with Oblivion. Despite some beautiful visuals, it is clearly an imperfect script relying too heavily on the influence of other sci-fi classics (Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man, AI can all be seen), which do the film an ultimate disservice and makes the viewer wonder if the inhabitants of Earth now fleed to Titan saw what was coming and decided to abandon ship before it was too late!