Eye/ear candy with a familiar story

Rating: 6/10 (13 April 2013)

Another satisfying tale about Tom Cruise the Aging Action Hero discovering himself while kicking some antagonist butt. And of course, a Tom Cruise action story wouldn't be complete without a Hot Love Interest to expand appeal beyond the sci-fi crowd.
Yes, clichés are abound in this movie and if you were hoping for a fresh new sci-fi mind-exploder, this isn't it. Instead, the writers have combined many well-accepted sci-fi concepts and thrown them together to produce a lukewarm plot. Anyone who has seen Wall-E, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, The Matrix, and similar movies will notice more than a few things in common between the stories.
While the acting is of reasonable quality, the visuals and music are what really stand out. Most of the landscapes, architecture and props (basically the entirely movie) are made with CGI and they are nothing short of breathtaking, thanks to excellent cinematography and other things that no one understands. Nothing fell short in the soundtrack department either, with an excellent combination of futuristic electronic and a sweeping orchestra by Anthony Gonzalez of M83 and Joseph Trapanese.
Nothing ground-breaking, but certainly a well-constructed, solid movie in most respects.