Human-centric 'Oblivion' is anything but

Rating: 7/10 (20 August 2013)

'Oblivion' is a tale of two halves. The first half sort plays out like 'Wall-E' meets 'Prometheus'. It's initially intriguing, but it quickly becomes a bit dull. And then Morpheus Freeman—wait, did I just say Morpheus Freeman? *Morgan*. Morgan Freeman—shows up, and it gets all twisty-turny. Not much of the twisty-turny makes much sense, but if you just go with it the pay-off is a bit of good old fashioned Hollywood melodrama and my favorite use of the PG-13 F-bomb since Wolverine's cameo in X-Men: First Class.
With stunning visuals, a score that evokes Vangelis and Tangerine Dream (In a good way) and solid performances—particularly by Cruise and Riseborough, who have to carry much of the dramatic water for the film—'Oblivion' is a journey worth taking.