2013 Movie ReviewsMovies

Sci-Fi Cinema Did It Better Before ‘Oblivion’

Oblivion Movie Poster
Oblivion © Universal Pictures

The following review originally ran on Starpulse.com in 2013.

Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi flick Oblivion is like the South Park episode “Simpsons Already Did It,” where Butters tries to cause havoc, and is continually foiled when he learns that “The Simpsons did it!” first. With Kosinski’s film though, you might say, “Cinema did it!” repeatedly after the introduction of each well-traveled science fiction theme in the movie.   

In Oblivion, Jack (Tom Cruise) is one of the last remaining people on an Earth scorched by war with alien invaders. Mankind is colonizing a new home, so most humans are preparing for the voyage, on a giant space station orbiting the planet. Jack sticks around monitoring contraptions that are harvesting energy for the new colony. Working with his partner Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), he repairs security drones and fights off the last few resource-hungry alien scavengers or “Scavs” for short. While tracking these baddies however, Jack witnesses a spaceship crash, which causes him to question his mission as well as everything else.

Without revealing too much of the plot, Oblivion borrows heavily from other genre films like Total Recall, Moon, The Matrix, and Independence Day. It would be one thing if this mashup appeared to be intentional homage, but it mostly just seems like a lack of creativity. Kosinski even lifts from his own prior effort TRON: Legacy, taking the bright, slick computer interfaces, along with similar intense electronic music. The technology in the film is chic and engaging, but the tunes performed by French group M83 are silly and unnecessarily epic. While the loud music pushes itself to the foreground, you can’t help feeling like the 80s-inspired synths are trying to make you swoon.

On top of all the reused themes, Oblivion is frustrating because it can’t really decide what type of story it wants to be. Given its expensive effects, the film borders on big-budget action in the vein of Minority Report. With Cruise’s brooding narration and the central love story, it also comes close to being a relationship film like 12 Monkeys or Gattaca. Instead of picking a motif, Kosinski and his co-writers Karl Gajdusek and Michael Arndt, let the picture straddle an ineffective middle ground between the two. At least there are a couple of entertaining supporting players like Morgan Freeman and Melissa Leo in the mix to liven things up.    

Oblivion isn’t a remake of anything; although it might as well be. The fact that it’s based on Kosinski’s own graphic novel means little, given its numerous recycled elements. And like most remakes, you’ll feel like the films that it mimics not only did these things first, they did them better.

✭✭ ½

Evan Crean

Hello! My name is Evan Crean. By day I work for a marketing agency, but by night, I’m a film critic based in Boston, MA. Since 2009, I have written hundreds of movie reviews and celebrity interviews for Starpulse.com. I have also contributed pieces to NewEnglandFilm.com and to The Independent, as a writer and editor. I maintain an active Letterboxd account too. In addition to publishing short form work, I am a co-author of the book Your ’80s Movie Guide to Better Living, which is available on CreateSpace and Amazon. The book is the first in a series of lighthearted self-help books for film fans, which distills advice from ’80s movies on how to tackle many of life’s challenges. On top of writing, I co-host and edit the weekly film podcast Spoilerpiece Theatre with two other Boston film critics. I’m a founding member and the current treasurer for the Boston Online Film Critics Association as well. This site, Reel Recon.com, is a one-stop-shop where you can find links to all of my past and present work. Have any questions or comments after checking it out? Please feel free to email me (Evan Crean) at: ecrean AT reelrecon DOT COM .

2 thoughts on “Sci-Fi Cinema Did It Better Before ‘Oblivion’

  • We’re in agreement. It suffers from lack of creativity, but it can’t even borrow interestingly rendering the action lifeless and dull.

    We differ about the music though. I loved the score. M83 are extraordinary musicians. Their 2011 album “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” is a landmark in electronic music.

    • Thanks for reading Mark. Believe it or not, I actually liked the music itself. I just think it was just inappropriately placed in this film. Its grandiose sound felt a bit too large for a story like Oblivion.

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