sf pic strong on f/x, weak on plot

Rating: 4/10 (14 April 2013)

where to even begin? 1. why not erase jack's memory entirely, while they were at it? he's lost his personal memories (and not even these thoroughly, as it turned out), but kept the generic memories of a member of the human race. if these had been erased also, the tet would have had to face no problem with his (their) loyalties, no problem with the fate of the earth, no need to pretend they were all relocating to titan etc. true, there would also have been no story. a loss?
2. this is a world that's supposed to be wrecked and destroyed, where most people have been dying of starvation. yet no one seems to have the slightest problem in procuring energy. a fellow on the run, tailed by two different sets of pursuers, will, as a matter of course, embellish the facade of his shack in the woods with bright lights. (American films don't do poverty very well, except for the purely visual. this reminds me of the young and otherwise quite watchable young actress playing rue in the hunger games, who was supposed to not have eaten for three days, and, when handed a chicken leg, daintily picked the meat off the bones. probably neither she nor her director had ever seen how a real starving person eats.)
3. a woman dispatched on what is essentially a maintenance job, where she will not be seen by anyone but her partner for weeks on end, will be outfitted exclusively with tight dresses and stiletto heels. nice to see that some things are not supposed to change in the future.
4. a person put into artificial sleep for sixty years will, on awakening, have not the slightest hesitation in efficiently using the new technology which she has not been introduced to.
5. someone on one of the boards here wondered how non-American viewers were supposed to relate to all the emotion surrounding the superbowl (or other purely American games). the answer is, you don't. though "overseas markets" are a welcome bonus, American films are made with American audiences in mind.
6. one tom cruise is quite enough for one film, but at least this we knew beforehand. two of them is definitely unfair.
and that's just a few random thoughts. add the lack of depth of the characters, the mostly indifferent acting (poor morgan freeman!), the utter predictability of the plot, and what it amounts to is: go find yourselves a proper film to watch.