Oblivion Film Review

Oblivion, escapism in a baron land. 

Oblivion takes place in a post apocalyptic earth, this is a visual treat; in this earth nothing is not quite what what seems. Tom Cruise plays our hero Jack and he is kept in line by Victoria played by the blandly beautiful Andrea Riseborough who stays at home so our hero can go out and rape and pillage the ruined earth further for electricity; she also keeps him from breaking the all important protocol.   

Nothing quite adds up on earth, humans won the war for earth but no humans live there, earth is supposed to be a baron place yet parts are as beautiful and lush as they were before the war. As this strangely old fashioned story unfolds questions are answered. Our rebel hero Jack finds a band of colorful, resourceful renegades to answer all his  questions. A better little woman literally crashes into his life and our man is motivated by the love of a good woman, she again stays at home while our hero goes off and does man stuff. This film might have an amazing futuristic pods for our characters to live in, fabulous bubble spaceships and pods but gender roles have not moved on from the 70s.

The 70s inspired this films look as well as it's gender politics. Oblivion has a sparse but spectacular feel. Oblivion has a lot in conman with Steven  Speilburg movies. The vision of a wreaked earth pulls the audience right in, it's a lonely place but you want to get hold of one of the bubble space ships  and explore an earth without barriers. This almost makes up for the story, a pick and mix of ideas and stories too easily recognizable, these range from The Bible to The Matrix, this story is based on a series of unpublished comics, on the printed page the story wouldn't add up quite well enough. There is a charming, romantic fairy tale aspect to this story that makes this film a bit more watchable.

This is a film for the geeks, a comfortable story, great technology and our hero. Find the nearest tweenage boy to take along with you, he will recognize his comic and X box game collection. Just don't forget  to tell him girls can shoot aliens, drive spaceships and save the world too.