Oblivion (2013)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, & Melissa Leo

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

When Tron 2 Screenwriter, Joseph Kosinski, started shopping for a Publisher for his graphic novel, Oblivion, they told him it was so good that he should bring it right to the big screen. Before you know it, some big names signed out and the film was released as a big budget blockbuster. There are a ton of cool gadgets in a story about a futuristic world, that has been destroyed by war. What initially turned me on to this film was the trailer, which show you the technology, but tell you almost nothing about the story. The films description is the same way, it tells you very little and really gets your curiosity going. The story starts by telling us what has become of the world, 65 years in the future. The planet has been destroyed by war and the humans have left the planet for one of Saturn's moons. All that's left is a bunch of technology meant to harvest Earth's resources for the people on Titan. The remaining rebels mean to sabotage this technology and it's the job of Jack and Vicka to repair and protect the technology from the last remaining terrorists. Tom Cruise stars and by now we all know how I feel about Tom Cruise. Fortunatly for Mr. Kosinski, this was a film that Cruise was really into and he does give one of his strongest performance since Minority Report. Cruise is terrific and is the main reason this film works in the beginning. With the extensive back story, it takes a while for anything substantive to happen and that's where Cruise and the unique technology come into play. They carry the film from the shocking beginning into the heart of the story. Once this film gets going it is one of the best pure Science Fiction films to come along in years. To his credit, even though the film is weird and starts out slow, Kosinski wouldn't let Hollywood touch it. The result is an old school type of Science Fiction film, done with modern technology. The geeks will love this movie, but there is also enough of a side stories and some amazing special effects that will help gain the majority of audiences. Oblivion was a terrific ride and something you don't see everyday, I really can't recommend it enough.