“Oblivion” is a very complex movie or at least it tries to be. The story is burdened with a lot of different concepts. Fighting for the human race survival, a characters journey to find himself and powerful battles between humans and allies are various concepts that this movie tries to combine. However despite the lack of structure in the story, science fiction fans will enjoy the apocalyptic landscapes, the realistic action scenes as well as the futuristic space crafts. Furthermore the visual elements are supported by amazing sound effects that manage to add a lot of intensity to the movie.
“Oblivion” starts with a very detailed story that is meant to draw the viewer deeper into the story. However there are too many details and rather than being drawn in the story the viewer will find himself rather bored waiting for the action to start. It presents an abandoned earth, that has been devastated by an alien invasion. While most of the humans were relocated to another planet, some of them remain in order to help gather the remaining resources. Such is the case of the main character Jack Harper ( played by Tom Cruise) who is a technician in charge of fixing some drones that protect the resource gathering machines from remaining aliens.
Harper is living a rather simple life on earth. He lives with his colleague and lover Vica (Andrea Riseborough), goes to work and tries to enjoy himself in his spare time. For the sake of the mission their memories were erased. However the main character is haunted by confusing dreams that seem to be memories from the time before the invasion. One day a spacecraft crashes into his yard. The only surviver of the crash is a Russian astronaut. This is the same woman whom Harper has seen in his dreams so many times. This is the point where the main character’s journey begins. Rather than settling for his simple life, he starts to question himself and everything he knows about the earth invasion.
Some people may find “Oblivion” mind blowing while others will be deeply disappointed. One thing is for sure. A lot of effort has been put into this movie and the producers had high expectations from it. However the problem is that the movie is not focused around anything. By revealing too much information from the beginning it takes away the audience’s wish to discover the story. Furthermore the suspense is not based on structured events. Throughout the movie you keep waiting for something extraordinary to happen but the story has a rather dull rhythm.
