What an eyeful!

Rating: Null/10 (12 April 2013)

An alien invasion destroyed the moon which, in turn, rendered the Earth more or less uninhabitable. So giant engines are converting the seas to energy for the colony on Titan, and Jack (Tom Cruise) and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) are a maintenance team, keeping in service droids which protect the engines in case of repeat attacks. But Jack keeps getting memory flashes which he can't explain.
I'm not going to tell you any more than the trailer does, because the movie itself contained some surprises. Adapted from a comic, I'm not sure it makes as much sense as it thinks it does, and I definitely came out of the cinema with questions left unanswered (why did Victoria have huge pupils and minimal irises, for instance). Having said that, it is an exciting, eye-catching, action-packed romp, and great fun to watch.
More than anything else, it is brilliantly realised visually. Iceland's bleak wastes serve very well as the ruined Earth, especially when enhanced with CGI and actual constructs of all-too-familiar landmarks (Does 1968's Planet Of The Apes know what it started?).
Cruise is his usual reliably physical protagonist, Andrea Riseborough's layered Victoria is a pleasure to watch, and Olga Kurylenko's rather thankless role carries a great deal more sympathy than might have been the case.
Overall, then, this is flawed, but still very enjoyable.