Pass the Popcorn review

Rating: 5/10 (12 April 2013)

If you've seen Oblivion's trailer, you know what to expect, since much of the story is spoiled in it. But the saddest part is, the movie is very predictable even if you haven't seen the trailer - just another Hollywood money-making sci-fi/action product. Except, Oblivion is based on a comic book. At least that's what they want you to believe - the comic book was never published, the director Joseph Kosinski started an illustrated novel and then abandoned the project to work on the movie. He said it was not intended for distribution, only for legal purposes, and Tom Cruise found it interesting.
In the year 2077 Earth is uninhabitable, after the nuclear war between humans and aliens known as "Scavs". They had destroyed the Moon, which caused natural disasters, and started invading Earth; humans eventually won the war but lost the planet. Some of those who survived are now living in the Tet, a large spaceship orbiting Earth, waiting to go to Titan, Saturn's moon where the rest of humanity is waiting. Jack (Tom Cruise) lives with Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) in a house above the clouds and spends his day repairing drones - Scav killing machines - while she oversees him and communicates with the main commander on Tet. One day, Jack finds Julia (Olga Kurylenko) in a crashed spacecraft, who will make him question everything he thought he knew about himself and the war.
If a movie is in the "science-fiction" genre, I expect it to be at least somewhat accurate about the "scientific" facts it presents. In Oblivion, Jack and Victoria live in a house above the clouds, and can normally walk around it and even swim in a pool in front of the entrance. They don't seem to mind that they are located in the stratosphere where the air is one thousand times thinner than on Earth and where it's pretty cold. I guess I should forgive the scriptwriter's mistake of considering the Moon's destruction responsible for earthquakes, but it still bothers me. And how can Jack and Victoria believe that, even after Earth was destroyed, humans managed to build their house, the Tet, those giant water-sucking machines and the drones? How could people possibly live on one of Saturn's moons if they had not made it habitable before? And they had only 60 years to do so. I suppose I'm nitpicking, but all these inconsistencies ruined the movie for me.
Also, the movie is way too long. Not much happens in the first half an hour, it is basically just made of shots of the destroyed Earth and remains of the American civilization (because nobody else matters in Hollywood). Although, I must admit, the cinematography in this part is good. Unfortunately, it doesn't make Oblivion any less boring. Furthermore, the special effects are also good - but with a $120 million budget and being a Sci-Fi movie, they can't be bad. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is bad. The scene when Jack and Victoria swim in the pool at night is romantic and sexy, but the music doesn't fit that mood at all. And then there's Ramble On by Led Zeppelin, probably put in the movie to show us that Jack/Tom Cruise is one cool guy. I should also mention Morgan Freeman, the exposition man, who was probably cast just because he has a nice voice and was supposed to explain the story. The other actors did a good job as well, I suppose, but their performances won't be particularly remembered: Tom Cruise plays Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko does an unimpressive job, Andrea Riseborough is the best of the three. Interestignly, Kosinski only directed another movie - TRON: Legacy - which reminds of Oblivion: great visual effects but poor storytelling. I surely hope he won't continue making this kind of movies, since he seems to be on bad terms with science fiction.
Rating: 5/10 Read more at http://passpopcorn.wordpress.com/