Enjoyable despite some glaring plot holes.

Rating: 6/10 (12 April 2013)

This was a film I wanted to see on the biggest screen possible, short of the IMAX I opted for the Odeon Leceister Square, the film certainly benefited from being on the big screen. It's the future and man kind has been destroyed by an alien invasion, or so we're told. Th war is over and the humans won, but only at the result of turning the earth into a nuclear wasteland. The invaders, or scabs as they're called, survive in pockets and are still waging a guerrilla war of sorts on earth. In the sky above just in orbit is 'Tech' the control centre which is fuelling what remains of earths resources to the Saturn moon of Titan, this being where the remains of the human population has fled to. The remaining deployment on earth are protected by a fleet of drones, and the drones are maintained by Tech's and their support, who operate from up on high and perform drone repairs as and when needed. These 'efficent' teams are run by couples... one doing the flying/fixing (Tom Cruise) and the other hanging around in the control station / funky floating house - (Not Tom Cruise) but is everything as it seems and why does our hero keep having flashbacks to a former life that took place before he was born? This film looks great, and say what you like about Cruise, but I have always felt he can act and has great screen presence and charisma. The film looks fantastic. Large sweeping landscape of shots of the former United States laid waste into desert look so real and deserts littered with the hulks of ships and nuclear submarines with missile tubes opened are endearing images that will stay with me for some time to come. Where the film dips is when the plot gets going, about 20 minutes in I had a sense of what was coming and the twists as they were thrown at me were not a massive surprise. Morgan Freeman and the excellent Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau are underused and barely have more than a few lines of dialogue each. They add weight, but their roles didn't really need to be filled out by stars when this is very much a Cruise vehicle.
The ending of the film has been compared to Independence Day and I must confess it was the first thing I thought of when the film went in to its last few minutes. This didn't make it any less enjoyable and the film was a visual feast for the eyes and the acting decent enough all round but this is a story you wouldn't have a hard time poking a few holes in if you try and you wouldn't have to try very hard. Still, this director is making films that deserve to be seen on the big screen.