A visually wonderful adventure

Rating: 7/10 (7 October 2013)

If you are a fan of spectacle and fun science fiction, Oblivion is the movie for you. While it isn't a masterpiece of cinema, it is highly entertaining, a fun ride, and never lets the audience down.
I went into Oblivion with a relatively open mind. I had seen trailers for it months ago, but it looked like a mindless action movie/summer blockbuster, which is not my favorite genre at all. Hence I didn't know anything about it except that Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman were in it. Now that I've seen it, I can honestly tell most other movie goers that it is a wonderful ride. It has everything you could hope from an action movie: plot twists, adrenaline rushes, mystery, good acting, and just enough explosions to be awesome but not overdone.
The biggest problem with the movie is that there is a rather pointless narration for the first few minutes. Narrations are one of my biggest film pet peeves. If I wanted someone to read to me, I'd get a book on tape—surely there are a million better ways of presenting exposition in a film. In fact, most of the information in the narration is presented within the next twenty minutes, and Oblivion would perhaps gain from forcing the audience to form connections implicitly. While talking about story, it may help to point out that the plot is not the main focus of Oblivion. Unfortunately, the story seems almost incidental to the sheer spectacle. Yes there are a few plot twists, but they are mostly predictable, especially to experienced sci-fi fans.
But the sheer spectacle is certainly something that Oblivion does right. From start to finish, it is visually stunning. One gets a genuine feeling of awe when swooping over beautiful vistas, or through ruined cities. With so many beautiful shots of nature, the man-made props and sets are given a high standard, but they are equal to the task. Equally dramatic is the musical score, which conveys a sense of adventure and drama, and occasionally soars into emotional territory. Few dramatic action films manage to be pure entertainment without resorting to semi-comedic one-liners, and over the top action highlighted by overblown CGI, yet Oblivion pulls it off. It never takes itself too seriously, but also never feels forced.
While nothing extraordinary, Oblivion is a more than decent film that fully lives up to its own promise. Hardcore movie buffs may be disappointed by the lack of originality, but no one who can kick back and enjoy the ride will be disappointed.