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Oblivion Movie Review

Oblivion is a 2013 science fiction film directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Tom Cruise. It’s a very mediocre movie unfortunately.

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“If we have souls, they are made of the love we share…

undimmed by time and bound by death“

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It takes place in 2077 on an Earth devastated by war with extraterrestrials that has caused humanity to relocate itself to Titan. The film follows the story of Jack Harper, a technician who has been sent back to Earth to service drones used in the fight against remaining extraterrestrials. After witnessing a spacecraft crash, from which he is able to rescue a survivor, Harper is captured by scavengers and fights against a new and evolving alien threat.

On paper, it sounds great. But in execution, it’s not even good to be honest. The storyline here is never engaging at all despite a couple of cool moments here and there. The pacing is so sluggish that it rendered the entire movie uninvolving. The exposition is some of the worst that I have ever witnessed as we get so many chunks of excessive explanations that they made the movie sound silly.

The emphasis is sorely on action in its third act and it’s only mildly diverting, but overall the story did not end in any meaningful way. Before that, the movie tried to be serious and deep, but it was only slow and boring. The characterization is also really thin.

Tom Cruise is actually very good in the main role. His performance is, I agree with many critics, one of the saving graces of the film. He is confident and very memorable throughout. But Olga Kurylenko and Andrea Riseborough are both utterly forgettable and uninteresting. And the less said about the campy, overly on-the-nose turn from Morgan Freeman, the better.

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Oblivion excels in its visuals. I just wish the whole movie was as great as it looked. The special effects are absolutely fantastic, the sets are great and the atmosphere is very strong through and through. The landscapes are super memorable and the mix of modern interiors and post-apocalyptic exteriors really made for one diverse-looking picture. The score and sound are both also great and some of the action flying scenes were quite fun.