If 2001 & Moon had a Hollywood love child

Rating: 7/10 (20 April 2013)

After a war with an alien species, Earth has been left in shambles. Two humans stay behind to help repair drones associated with the extraction of Earth's remaining resources. After some unusual circumstances, one of the team members begins to question his mission and purpose.
The ads for this movie reveal nothing, yet reveal everything at the same time. It's an odd feeling going into this film knowing nothing about it, but knowing where most of the story will go. Near the end of the film you'll get this strange feeling that you've seen this all before. Well, you have. While Oblivion tends to borrow a lot of elements from better sci/fi films, it's enjoyable enough to keep your attention till the last scene. Oblivion is basically if 2001: A Space Odyssey and Moon had a Hollywoodized love child, which is both a positive and negative.
Tom Cruise plays the hero of this story, Jack Harper. A man given the task of repairing drones that are to protect these vessels that are extracting Earth's water supply. We are told the humans had to leave Earth and are on one of Jupiter's moons. Both Cruise and Andrea Riseborough who plays his female counterpart Victoria have two weeks left of their mission before they can return to the TET. The drones are protecting the vessels from the alien species that attacked Earth. Now the story takes a few twists and turns which will have some people glued to the screen and others scratching their heads. By the end of the film all is revealed and cleared up, I for one appreciated the slow revelations of what is truth and what is fiction.
Both Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko show up in the film, I don't wish to reveal their characters or purpose because the mystery is integral to the story, even if it's obvious from the get go. Freeman unfortunately is given very little to do and shows up in only 3 scenes. Kurylenko is given more, but I still wanted more of an emotional draw from her performance. Both Cruise and Riseborough do well in their respective roles. Cruise's character is more concerned with exploration and knowledge, while Riseborough is more by the book and stick to the mission. Both characters are at opposite ends of the same mission. Cruise does well here, as usual. He always gives 100 percent in his roles, which I admire. He manages to balances both the emotional weight and the action needed for this film.
Joseph Kosinski is the director, who also gave us the visually stunning Tron: Legacy. Oblivion seems to be giving him more to work with from a story stand point, but the visuals are what will draw you in. Cruise is flying around a destroyed Earth with only little remnants of our history. The sequences of him in his ship are great and Kosinski knows how to handle his action sequences. The sleek design of the ship and use of white everywhere might make you think that Apple is in control in the future, but it's obvious the influences in this film are mainly Kubricks 2001 and the Rockwell mind bender Moon.
Oblivion is a decent sci/fi film that makes you ask some questions, while being throughly entertained. While it's not as deep as either of the above mentioned films and feels more Hollwood, it's good enough to recommend.