Movie Review: Oblivion

In the future, the earth has been devastated by a war with the alien scavengers. Humanity prevailed but the catastrophic damage resulted in the evacuation of our entire species. Only a few remain, the technicians and programmers who keep the technology that powers our new civilization up and running. Jack (Tom Cruise), however, is a little different than most technicians in that he loves earth and longs to remain here once his service is up, against the objections of his coworker, Victoria (Andrea Riseborough). When a ship crashed in Jack's zone, the discovery of its cargo leads Jack down a rabbit hole that will force him to question everything, including his own identity.

Oblivion is pretty much exactly what you expect from the trailers. It is beautiful to look out and filled with technical brilliance but falls short of its lofty goals. The movie desperately wants to be significant in addition to entertaining and while I respect that ambition, the script isn't strong enough to make that a reality. The twists and turns, some of which are at least somewhat unpredictable, keep the film moving but too often Oblivion comes across as a collection of the plot points from a number of other sci-fi films that were probably better. I'm an unabashed fan of Cruise and I like his work here but it is a bit perfunctory and uninspired. All in all, Oblivion is a solid, if underwhelming piece of science fiction that doesn't leave a lasting impression but will garner multiple lazy Sunday afternoon viewings. Grade: B+ (Rated PG-13 for a bit of language including the big one that lands right where you expect it to and one scene of semi-nudity)