Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for action violence, sensuality and fleeting profanity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 4.19.13
Director/co-scripter Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion hearkens back to 1970s sci-fi thrillers that involved lone heroes
struggling against horrific situations that weren’t quite what they seemed, at
first blush.
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| Having discovered that somebody — or something — has set up a homing beacon that is blasting a signal into space, Jack (Tom Cruise) carefully picks his way through the remnants of the Empire State Building, seeking the source of this unexpected pocket of technology. |
Kosinski and his fellow writers —
Karl Gajdusek and Michael Arndt — definitely caught that vibe. Their film
carries strong thematic echoes of Planet of the Apes (the original 1968
version) and The Omega Man, with an added dollop of the psychological tension
and heightened paranoia present in The Matrix.
Factor in some rip-snortin’
action sequences — which are freakin’ awesome on a giant IMAX screen — and the
result is 126 minutes of clever, well-paced, post-apocalyptic suspense.
Which is not to say that Oblivion is destined to become a classic. Kosinski has a tendency toward
overwrought bombast even when unnecessary: such as, for example, a love scene
that rises to a frankly silly soundtrack crescendo from composers Anthony
Gonzalez, Joseph Trapanese and M.8.3. I’m reminded of Giorgio Moroder’s
similarly gaudy scores for 1980s rock-video movies such as Flashdance, Scarface and Top Gun: a suitable musical environment for those popcorn
flicks, but not quite the right tone for an otherwise thoughtful sci-fi drama.
Kosinski comes by this
style-over-substance tendency honestly, having helmed 2010’s laughably bloated TRON: Legacy. Fortunately, he’s working with a much better premise and
narrative here, which can withstand his occasional visual and aural assaults.
The year is 2077, decades after
an invading alien armada blew up Earth’s moon as the ultimate first-strike
assault; the resulting environmental havoc destroyed civilizations around the
globe. But mankind rose to the challenge and beat back the so-called
Scavengers, although the cure may have been worse than the disease; thanks to
the widespread use of nuclear weapons, most of what remained of Earth became
uninhabitable.
Humanity’s remnants constructed a
massive orbiting space station dubbed the Tet, from which the survivors hope to
mount a massive exodus to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. In pursuit of that grand
scheme, Earth’s remaining resources — particularly water — are being extracted
by huge, computer-driven factories, and sent to the Tet.
Two-person “monitoring teams” are
stationed near each factory, ostensibly to handle any necessary repairs.
Unfortunately, pockets of the Scavengers — Scavs — still remain on Earth, and
are doing their best to sabotage these operations. In order to help safeguard
the repair crews, globe-shaped weaponized “drones” scour the devastated
landscape, seeking and eliminating any remaining alien resistance.
