[7]
After a war with aliens leaves Earth ravaged and humans near-extinct, two lone caretakers oversee the harvesting of ocean water for transport to the moon Titan where humanity is repopulating. Tom Cruise stars as one of the caretakers, a man who spends his days repairing drones and making sure the harvesting goes as smoothly as possible. In just a few short weeks, he and his partner (Andrea Riseborough) will conclude their task and join the rest of humanity on Titan. But their fate is interrupted when alien ‘scavs’ kidnap Cruise and open his eyes to Matrix-like secrets and conspiracies, leading him to question everything — even his very identity.
While the screenplay gets overly-complicated and a bit muddled toward the end, Oblivion lays out a compelling mystery in a striking, post-apocalyptic environment. Director Joseph Kosinski (who also wrote the graphic novel on which the film is based) lends the film a sleek style reminiscent of his work on Tron: Legacy, including a pulsing synth score by electronic band M83 and composer Joseph Trapanese. The supporting cast includes Morgan Freeman, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones), and Melissa Leo, but none of them get a chance to leave much of an impression. This is decisively Cruise’s show, and he’s reliably great as a hero with relatable vulnerabilities. Oblivion owes a considerable debt to The Matrix for its message and meaning, but it’s a great-looking, well-paced, exciting and emotional film — a fun ride overall.
With Olga Kurylenko and Zoe Bell.