Visually impressive sci-fi drama

Rating: 7/10 (8 January 2014)

It's 2077. The Earth has been rendered virtually uninhabitable after an alien invasion that took place sixty-some years earlier. Even though the humans technically "won" the war (using nuclear weapons which pretty much wiped everything out), most of the planet's survivors have long since moved to a colony on one of Saturn's moons, leaving behind only a handful of people, like Tom Cruise's Commander Jack Harper, as part of the " mop-up crew," whose job is to repair drones and to make sure the alien remnant known as the "scavengers" don't interfere with the continued production of fusion power from the oceans that is needed by the humans living up on Titan.
Complications arise when Jack rescues a female flight commander (Olga Kurylenko) whose vehicle is shot down by Scavs. Trouble is he thinks he may remember her from a time before he had his memory "swiped" as a needed security precaution given the sensitive nature of his job and mission.
"Oblivion" is a visually elegant film from director Joseph Kosinski, adapted from his graphic novel, which was never published. The screenplay by Karl Gajdusek and Michael DeBruyn has some of the opaqueness of "Inception," as, like a master card dealer, it shuffles the planes of reality to the point where the characters and the audience can't quite make out what is actual and what is a mixture of dreams, memories and alternate realities. Similarly, the filmmakers seamlessly blend CGI action, metaphysics and a surprise, turnabout ending to create a subtle, thought-provoking vision of technology in a post-apocalyptic future.
"Oblivion" takes its time telling its story, more concerned with mood and impression than with whiz bang action and plot details - though it doesn't stint on either of those two things either.
Andrea Riseborough, Melissa Leo and Morgan Freeman round out the cast, though Freeman's character feels more plot contrivance than genuine person.
"Oblivion" isn't a completely satisfying movie in the final analysis, but its effective balance of tone and glorious visuals makes it worth watching.