Good but could have been better

Rating: 7/10 (3 August 2014)

This is definitely my type of movie - a slick, visually glorious SciFi with a nice SF plot twist thrown in.
I really liked the portrayal of the abandoned Earth, the giant water- harvesting machines, and the futuristic space station outpost up in the clouds. The pairing of Tom Cruise and Andrea Riseborough as the space station's (and Earth's) sole guardians was spot on - you could believe they were attracted to each other but that they had such different personalities that tensions were bound to surface (as indeed they did).
The early scenes on Earth in which Cruise outwits the Scavs, the supposed remnants of an alien army that humans had defeated, are excellent. As are some neat little Sci-Fi sequences such as that involving a suspended glass swimming pool in the space station.
Unfortunately the movie doesn't maintain the high standard throughout. Inevitably other characters become involved as the plot develops, but somehow the characterisation isn't quite right. Morgan Freeman as the leader of the human resistance makes a dramatic entry when Cruise is captured, but is quickly sidelined into a bit part - an opportunity missed. And Olga Kurylenko is not well cast as the love interest. I didn't feel the chemistry between her and Cruise, which makes the his immediate attachment to her ahead of Riseborough seem a bit contrived.
The ending is the worst part of all. A dénouement between human and alien forces beckons but is resolved very quickly by a terrible rip-off of Independence Day's ending - I'll say no more.
So ultimately this was a little disappointing. But overall I did enjoy it, if only because slick SciFi movies always do it for me. Could and should have been better.