Oblivion Review: The Best-Looking Bad Movie Ever?

rating: 2

It's difficult to grasp the fact that Tron: Legacy is the debut feature of any director; though the film was oft-lambasted for its slack character development and cold delivery, it was an aesthetic tour de force, and suggested that helmer Joseph Koskinski might just have a bright future ahead of him if he tethers himself to stronger scripts. That future doesn't begin to come to fruition with his sophomore feature, however; this sci-fi farce is an exceptional achievement in terms of what it does for the eyes and ears, but the script - written by Kosinksi in league with Little Miss Sunshine's Michael Arndt and The Departed's William Monahan - vacilates between woefully derivative and clunkily convoluted without a clear through-point or even a basic sense of pace. Simply put, Oblivion is one of the best-looking bad films ever made. In this story, Earth is a ravaged wasteland following a successful effort to repel an alien force 60 years earlier. Only a few humans remain on Earth - while the rest reside in space - including Marine commander Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and his colleague-cum-partner Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), tasked with fixing drones and basically cleaning up the remnants of the war. Things get testing for Jack when a crashed spaceship leaves one survivor, Julia (Olga Kurylenko), who seems overly familiar to him, and Jack then has to fend off a group of angry insurgents led by the mysterious Malcolm Beech (Morgan Freeman). It shouldn't be too difficult to make a film out of this material that ticks all the basic boxes; the film is beautiful to behold from both a visual effects and cinematographic standpoint, and M83's haunting electronic score desperately makes us want to feel, but not only is the emotional core of the piece almost completely hollow, there's not even a whole lot of action for the visceral appeal. Things move at a glacial pace from minute one, though it's clear from the overly-expository opening narration that we're being set up for at least one plot twist later on (in fact, it's several). However, Kosinski and co. might be a little over-confident in the smarts of their dawdling narrative; if you can't guess the first plot twist in the opening two minutes, you were probably paying too much attention to either your date or your box of popcorn. As for the other surprises, they abound in the second half once the film has already spent an hour meandering, and the various explanations shoot for subtle yet end up awkward and inchoate; it is a basic failure of storytelling. Much of the film's opening act sets the scene, and this it does well, but for all that it lingers on Jack and Victoria, we learn curiously little about them as people or their relationship dynamic. They are beautiful shells walking around a luxurious, literal high-rise apartment, while Jack occasionally takes to the ground with Victoria guiding him from base. The snoozy pace hurts the picture no end, and even once Julia shows up to forge a love triangle of sorts, the whole romantic stew seems sort of juvenile for a film that could be shooting for so much more. If Cruise and Riseborough's patent lack of chemistry is one thing, the disappointing lack of Morgan Freeman only leaves the film more bereft of charisma and gravitas; he doesn't show up until the half-way point, and delivers a phoned-in performance that takes up maybe 15 or 20 minutes of screen time at most (despite him clearly being marketed as a lead). By the time things begin to get interesting, they also become quite confusing; perhaps it's a case of being so numbed by the opening hour that the attempt to stimulate feels like a shock to the system, but this film does not have a firm grip on its narrative chicanery at all. Some of the more slippery sleights of hand owe much to a few recent genre classics, though the poor execution, a fault of the script more than Kosinski's direction, makes it feel not just sloppy but soulless. Are there are a few moments of awe and wonder in this film that aren't to do with the visuals or score? Absolutely, but the second you begin to enjoy a moment, it's usurped by another nonsensical turn of story or a mindless line of dialogue (there's actually an irony-free recitation of the wildly overused "You look like s**t / You should see the other guy" action movie monologue). Oblivion is an infuriating film in many ways; it truly feels like there's something great here kicking and screaming to get out, but the story collapses under its own hefty weight, and no matter how spectacularly Kosinski directs traffic, it just won't be enough for most genre fans. This is a disappointing sci-fi flick that boasts strong technical credentials but fails to find a compelling or even particularly coherent story to hang it all on. Well, at least it's not in 3D, something I had just taken as a given until I arrived at the screening. Oblivion is in UK cinemas now and in US cinemas April 19th.