Oblivion (2013)

Universal Pictures

While there aren’t many new ideas for movies anymore, this film proves you can creatively mix and match ideas into something that is new. I would much rather have movies like Oblivion than the endless sequels and remakes that are constantly churned out year after year; just think back to Source Code from two years ago for another example. Tom Cruise seems to be having a career resurgence as an action movie star, with great movies like Mission Impossible 4 and Jack Reacher (even Rock of Ages was pretty good.) It’s like he’s finally getting the roles he should have been given 25 years ago and I don’t even notice he’s 50; unless he takes off his shirt.

I initially thought Oblivion looked like a live action Wall-E, especially since the first act plays out in a similar way. Cruise is Jack Harper, who is a technician for probes, so he’s actually more of a handy-man for these robots; which is later revealed to be Wall-E if he was packing heat. Cruise is partnered up with a female named Victoria who receives radio transmissions of where to send the probes. I like the dynamic between both humans because she spends her days in their technologically advanced apartment and wants to complete their mission and leave the planet, while Jack would rather stay behind in the forest where he listens to Led Zeppelin albums. You could say, “he’s a little bit country, she’s a little bit industrial rock n’ roll.” Along with the Wall-E comparison, this act felt like Tom Cruise as a futuristic Road Warrior against scavengers who are stealing fuel cells.

After exploring what’s left of Earth, a new character is added and it disrupts the dynamic between Jack and his girlfriend even more. Jack is torn between his life repairing the probes and these scavengers who inhabit the planet, with a few twists and turns along the way. I was engaged in the storytelling and really enjoyed the special effects, which is where a lot of recent movies seem to lose me. The mixing of sci fi themes is off the charts as it’s no longer just a Road Warrior clone and there’s even a scene reminiscent of the original Planet of the Apes that made me want to shout, “you may not like what you find!” By the time the movie reaches its climax I should have seen the ending coming, but I didn’t and was really impressed with the way it played out. This was more than just good sci fi, it truly was a satisfying movie. In fact, you know Oblivion is good when it borrows the ending from a movie and does it better than what it copied.