At best, a poor emulation of sci-fi grandeur

Rating: 4/10 (18 April 2013)

It's not great, let me start off by saying that. I don't mean to be (to used the go-to and clichéd term on IMDb) a 'hater'. I'm not. Despite Cruises many personal faults, I still think he's a terrific actor, and he usually makes great choices when it comes to scripts. This is not one of those.
I understand there are countless reviews that already that discuss this films penchant for previous sci-fi works. And usually a film that pays homage to other ideas from before itself do so with reverence, and with a flair that brings something new.
This film does not. This is the culmination of Hollywood producers sat in room brainstorming previous successful innovative ideas, and trying to compress them into one story that will garner the biggest box office return.
The visuals were impressive, especially given the budget. I know that may seem like a silly statement, but most films nowadays on such a scale will have a budget twice as large as this film and yet still won't achieve such beauty with CGI. (The Hobbit, for example). So for this I give Oblivion high praise.
However, the plot is pandering and thoroughly un-original. And again, the argument here seems to be: "All sci-fi movies borrow from earlier works and themes." Yes, this is true to an extent. But what most seminal works of sci-fi have in common is that they elaborate on these themes, and they in turn offer something new.
This film did nothing. It took what it could from previous concepts, smashed them together into a mess of a plot, and hoped that younger audiences who wouldn't be aware of its blatant plagiarism would marvel at its supposed uniqueness.
Nothing about this films plot has merit. Inspiration has its uses, and it will nurture ideas. This was simply a hack attempt to capitalise on previous works.