Cruising around a bombed out Earth with Tom

Rating: 4/10 (25 October 2013)

All of the points are for the special effects. The set visuals and other effects were vivid and impressive. The rest of the production showed little thought or originality, with most of the cast and crew not showing up, nor even "phoning it in."
It's a post-apocalyptic story, set in the year 2077, 60 years after an alien attack laid waste to the Earth, making it pretty much uninhabitable. The remnant population seeks refuge on Saturn's large moon Titan, and now sends some guy down to Earth to check on stuff as some kind of caretaker. Enter Tom Cruise as our hero. Remember how Wall-E endeavored to clean up an environmentally crippled Earth long after humans had taken to space? Well, the little robot Wall-E had a personality that was at once touching; not so with Cruise's character.
There is never anything to care about in this character, or anything he does. First of all, Cruise never fills the role. He looks out of place; dressed like he's going to a high school prom while he wanders around a destroyed landscape. Cruise's acting consists of some bland stares at what surrounds him, and a romance with a woman that has as much chemistry as inert lead. The scripting doesn't help the lousy acting; the story really never pulls you in. The characters don't do much of anything, and blunder their way into some plot-devices rehashed from scores of other movies. There are revelations about things, but by this time you may be asleep.
Before closing, it's fair to note that Morgan Friedman makes his usually fine effort in the movie. But even he can't save it from the other actors.
In short, it's an effort at sci-fi that burns up in the atmosphere of its own laziness. If you like watching Cruise wander around with a confused look on his face, you might like this. But don't expect a story that's worth telling.