Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Oblivion Review - 2 Stars

Aliens attack earth, nuclear bombs explode, the population exits to other planets, and Tom Cruise stays behind to clean up.  Cruise lives in a floating condo with icy Andrea Riseborough who nurtures him by night and directs his patrols by day with the help of mission control operator Melissa Leo.  We learn that earth defeated the aliens but that drones continue to fight the remaining enemy agents.  Cruise has had his memory erased, but retains memories of life before the invasion and of a beautiful woman — played by Olga Kurylenko—whom he romanced on the top of the Empire State building.  “Oblivion” dishes up a conspiracy explained by Morgan Freeman, who leads a group of humans who prefer earth to another planet.  “Oblivion” looks good but gets so complicated it might give you a brain ache.  The movie lifts  from a lot of other and more successful sci fi films.  That’s a nice way of saying it’s not very original.  Cruise looks good, but too many people left the screening I watched saying “I’m so confused.”  Does it deliver what it promises?  Beautiful looking post apocalypse thriller.  Is it entertaining?  Confusing.  Is it worth the price of admission?  Guaranteed to give you a brain ache.