Same problems as the overly complicated "Prometheus"

Rating: 5/10 (19 April 2013)

I was ready to look up who wrote the script for this film, because there are the same problems with this film that plagued "Prometheus". I don't even know where to begin with what's wrong with this film. Aspects of this science fiction reality aren't explained, or worse, when they are explained, don't make any sense. Both films repeatedly throw a new wrinkle into the story, that you perhaps believe will lead to some big revelation, but only accomplishes creating more unanswered questions. Another similarity to the other film is the production design. The epic landscapes are good looking. Our main characters' home looks a little like the Jetsons' home, with slick looking technology.
I spent the drive home from the theatre trying very earnestly to figure out the plot. This is the kind of movie where a plot twist, intended to keep the audience on it's toes, negates the actions made by a major character earlier.
To make complaints about the story, one has to talk about spoilers, so be warned...
If Jack has memories of Julia being his wife, then why does Victoria kiss him like a spouse during the flashback on the Odyssey? That whole thing of who is the real wife and who is really Jack is kind of explained but is too convoluted by that point to have any real emotional impact or meaning to the audience.
What was the whole point of the robot aliens destroying Earth? The only thing I could kind of recall was that maybe those huge water convertors were actually for creating energy for the robot aliens, or something like that.
A major question that came to mind was the premise of the underground surviving humans. Morgan Freeman is basically a cameo appearance in this film, the whole underground world of the surviving humans that he leads is given no screen time. On reflection, I think the screenwriter left that area unexplored in order to keep it as a 'mystery' to the audiences. I figured out the supposed aliens were really human within the first 20 minutes, so the potential for more exposition in their lives was lost. Instead long periods of time are spent following Jack going about his chores, along with the visit to his 'special place', a mountain retreat unharmed by the global annihilation.
The central explanation of why Jack and Victoria exist and what is found on the mother ship is almost laughable. A non-feeling robot ruler ("Sally") would not go through so much trouble to get rid of the last humans, and worse, have the same friggin' weakness that not only acted as the super-dumb climax to "Phantom Menace", but copied again more recently in "Battle: LA". Ugh! You not only copy a big climax used twice before, but it is a weak idea for a resolution in the first place! Please, a smart robot would make the drones autonomous, and be able to function without the mothership.
Frankly, I could go on with spoilers for a few more paragraphs, but it would not help make any more sense out of Oblivion. Too much is tossed into the story without much inspiration behind it. It is only Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise that keeps any energy going. The music suffers some of the similar problems with the director's last film "Tron: Legacy", there is too much throbbing pop music to the sound at times when simpler more tense underscoring would have helped. It is composed by the band M83 instead of Daft Punk, but you could have fooled me. Mainly, because both bands seemed to be under the director's orders to make it sound like the generic Hans Zimmer busy strings from "The Dark Knight".
Alas, I must blame this director who has a wonderful vision to his last two films, but lacks any true momentum within the acting, editing, and more importantly pacing. If you are a science fiction buff, I suggest see this film once on the big screen (I took some critics advice and saw it in Imax) to enjoy the nice visuals, but otherwise forget about ever wanting to sit through it again.