Fabulous !!!!

Rating: 9/10 (12 April 2013)

I saw Oblivion earlier this evening, not knowing much about it other than it was a science fiction film set in the near future starring Tom Cruise. I love sci-fi and generally enjoy Tom Cruise movies. When the movie started, I was immediately impressed by the visuals, the bleak landscape (which is quite disturbing) and the special effects. It takes a few minutes to get used to Tom Cruise in the role and the dialogue at first seemed pretty clichéd. So I watching this movie thinking, OK it looks great, but where can this movie go ? They are just there doing their job on the rig, he's explained what they are doing there, big deal !
But lets just say the movie experience improves exponentially as the film goes on, as the story becomes more complex and things begin to expand and make sense. I don't want to put any spoilers in here, but there was a point when I thought oh no, its gone too far now, this part doesn't make sense (after another patrol craft lands over the sand dune). For those who've seen it, you'll know which scene I mean. But then even that makes sense completely by the end too.
Going into this movie totally unaware about any plot detail was the best thing, it made it so much more enjoyable. I was worried this film was going to be great to look at, but vacuous. That it certainly was not ! It was profound and stunning ! Tom Cruise is at the top of his game here and he definitely looks the part thoroughly. The love story is very believable and is quite deep and touching. I had a tear in my eye on more than one occasion. This film touches cleverly on the point that life is about memories, those you love and those you lost, not just about what you do and who you are. This resonated with me. The other main female role, his colleague is also great in her role. The direction, the tension, the sound effects, especially of the drones, are all fabulous. I really can't fault this film, apart from a few minor issues that I'm not going to bring up now ! 9/10, the best film I have seen in a long time.