Oblivion

Oblivion (2013)
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 56%

When I was a kid, I only knew two actors: Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Why this is, I don't know. Perhaps it was because they were in movies that I loved when I was younger; Tom Cruise (Top Gun, Risky Business, Cocktail(?), Interview With the Vampire) and Brad Pitt (Cool World, Se7en, Twelve Monkeys, Interview With the Vampire). Regardless of the reason, I ended up choosing Brad as my celebrity guy crush; my Bronection (that is a portmanteau of Bro and Connection...). I feel I chose wisely because he has ended up having the more varied career (maybe) and also he isn't crazy. I share all of this with you so I can tell you that Oblivion is one of my favorite Tom Cruise movies...ever.

Check out the trailer for the film if you haven't already.

*drooool*

Tom Cruise is Jack Harper, a drone repair worker two weeks away from joining the rest of Earth's civilization on Saturn's moon, Titan. Sixty years before the start of the film, the Earth was attacked by an alien race the humans dubbed Scavengers (Scavs). There was an epic war fought between the two sides but the humans ultimately won, however the victory came at a price. They were forced to use the nuclear weapons in reserve in order to combat the Scavs. In the process, the Moon was destroyed which created immeasurable chaos on Earth. Earthquakes and tsunamis destroyed cities and countries. The remaining people either died on Earth or caught transport to Titan. The TET is a government installation located in space that is responsible for converting sea water into fusion energy for the population on Titan. Jack and his partner, Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), maintain the drones protecting these machines that dot the coast off of New York. Every morning, Jack wakes up, gets in his sweet future helicopter, and patrols the ground. Vica communicates with Sally, their TET contact, and relays any damage beacons or messages to Jack. One day, as Jack is searching for a lost drone, he is confronted by Scavs and is almost killed. Jack escapes and makes it back to his base camp but he begins to question what he knows about the Scavs. He believes that they weren't trying to kill him...but catch him. As Jack looks for answers, he discovers that not everything is so simple.

I was at a loss when I started thinking about what I wanted to write here. There is so much to this movie that I don't want to give away so I cannot really discuss the plot so I will say this...this is one of the most well done Sci-Fi movies I have ever seen. The story is set in 2077 so it's not THAT far into the future which is always a plus for me. When a movie (or game) is set in some ridiculous year like 2277 (Fallout 3), and they are still using things like books, glass bottles, or fossil fuel burning cars, I begin to question the timeline that the creators have set forth. 2277; that is more than 250 years from now. 250 years into the past was a COMPLETELY different world. We use almost nothing that those people thought were everyday items. If you are going to set your story in some ridiculously distant future, there better be tech I cannot imagine at this moment. Take for instance, Alien. Alien takes place in 2122 and they, for some reason, don't have access to good flashlights, or flares, or night vision goggles.

It's a good trailer though.

Now, I know that Alien was filmed in 1979 and the technology is...dated but you get what I am saying. Oblivion's tech was completely believable. The HUD on Jack's badass helo is something we either do have or could have right now. The computer system that Vica uses throughout the film looks like a Microsoft Table system. Even the weapons appear to be something that could be created within a few years. This all adds to the believability of the film for me. My mind didn't wander down some critical bunny trail during the film. I was enthralled in what I saw on the screen. This brings me to an interesting point; does CGI make films better? I know that on the surface the answer would almost certainly be yes, but consider how groundbreaking Alien was. It was a Sci-Fi Horror film that is absolutely terrifying. Would the movie be better if it were remade today with a bunch of computer animated monsters? I highly doubt it. What do you think??

No BS

Oblivion is a ton of fun. If you like Tom Cruise, action movies, or Sci-Fi then you cannot miss this one. I didn't see it in IMAX but I can imagine it would be intense so do that if possible. Also, don't worry...he TOTALLY runs in this movie.

You're welcome.

My Score: 8.5/10