It was I think the utterly barren landscapes of the Oblivion trailers that pulled me to the cinema. The sense of total devastation and the understated futuristic CGI.
Oblivion is set sometime in the next one hundred years, after aliens have attacked earth. They didn't use weapons, they destroyed the moon and let nature do their work for them. Mankind fought back and eventually beat the aliens. But with earth all but uninhabitable, the surviving humans were forced to take flight and settle on one of Jupiter's moons. They left behind a skeleton crew to mine earth's remaining resources. Jack and Victoria are an effective team. But increasingly Jack's dreams offer memories that conflict with his certain knowledge.
Visually Oblivion looks about as real as I can imagine any future apocalyptic landscape could, with everything covered in dust. A great contrast to the perfect technology used by Jack and Victoria. Anyone paying the slightest attention is going to figure out what's going on pretty quickly. This adds rather than detracts, giving a greater insight into Jack and Victoria's determination to stay on mission. Andrea Riseborough turns in the standout performance as Victoria, fulfilling the promise of her brief outing in Welcome to the Punch. Cruise is understated but all the more powerful.
The story is one of the most ambitious I've seen in a movie. It's multi layered and full of angles. Such a broad scope the events that proceeded and follow the movie would make compelling viewing in themselves. The film is not without a few issues but the concept was so great, I'm still deliberating and imagining the events we didn't see several days later.
Great performances, great landscapes and slick but contextual CGI that doesn't dominate, underpin an incredibly ambitious story that overcomes its few shortcomings. A real standout I'm already looking forward to watching on DVD.
Oblivion is set sometime in the next one hundred years, after aliens have attacked earth. They didn't use weapons, they destroyed the moon and let nature do their work for them. Mankind fought back and eventually beat the aliens. But with earth all but uninhabitable, the surviving humans were forced to take flight and settle on one of Jupiter's moons. They left behind a skeleton crew to mine earth's remaining resources. Jack and Victoria are an effective team. But increasingly Jack's dreams offer memories that conflict with his certain knowledge.
Visually Oblivion looks about as real as I can imagine any future apocalyptic landscape could, with everything covered in dust. A great contrast to the perfect technology used by Jack and Victoria. Anyone paying the slightest attention is going to figure out what's going on pretty quickly. This adds rather than detracts, giving a greater insight into Jack and Victoria's determination to stay on mission. Andrea Riseborough turns in the standout performance as Victoria, fulfilling the promise of her brief outing in Welcome to the Punch. Cruise is understated but all the more powerful.
The story is one of the most ambitious I've seen in a movie. It's multi layered and full of angles. Such a broad scope the events that proceeded and follow the movie would make compelling viewing in themselves. The film is not without a few issues but the concept was so great, I'm still deliberating and imagining the events we didn't see several days later.
Great performances, great landscapes and slick but contextual CGI that doesn't dominate, underpin an incredibly ambitious story that overcomes its few shortcomings. A real standout I'm already looking forward to watching on DVD.
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