so close.

Rating: 7/10 (4 September 2013)

"Oblivion" borrows quite a bit from films like "Moon", "Prometheus", and "Matrix", and NO DOUBT, it is a skillfully crafted sci-fi film.
The films twists are anything but surprising, but they work in the context of the story, and add a bit of flavor to the ending.
The film could have really been great if it had allowed Morgan Freeman's character to expand a bit on the plot/history.
I went into this with fairly high expectations. At the mid-way point, I thought this was headed towards a 5-6 rating, but the last 30 minutes is probably the strongest part of the film.
mild spoiler alert. One of the problems with the film is that the opening narration is completely under-minded by what follows. The film might have been better without it.
more mild spoilers. Cruise and the rest of the cast does an admirable job, but the script doesn't really tackle the inner-struggles of the lead character like it should. That's where a film like "Moon" surpasses "Oblivion". Just because "your memory has been wiped"(even though we find that's not really the case), it doesn't mean that the strength of the human-spirit should be so dulled as it is here. The film hit on some of these subjects with the Lake retreat and other aspects(the books etc), but in terms of character development and drama it wanes. Even "Equilibrium" didn't gloss over these themes as much as they do here. If the filmmakers had changed that aspect of this film - it would have been one of the years best.
I can recommend this, but it's still a bit frustrating how the story is seemingly complete, but the struggles of the characters are not well represented.
67/100
You might like this if you liked: The Host(not as good as this), Moon(better than this), Matrix(better than this), or Avatar(about even).