FACE YOURSELF IN "OBLIVION"

You know what I said to myself as I watched this film? If I had half the sense I have now back in the day, I would have plunged headfirst into special effects. I’d be a special effects artist. It’s where the money is. And let’s face it, technology today allows you to do pretty amazing things. You can do these amazing things “already” as it were. Just imagine what will be possible in a few years. A few decades. But ah, do I think they should be chucked into every plotline willy-nilly? No. A resounding NO. Take Oblivion. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a great film in a wonderful, Hollywoody way, but let’s face it. We’ve seen the same story done before. Low-tech and better.

Jack (Tom Cruise) is a veteran serving his planet. The entire population of the earth has moved to Titan after a devastating war; Jack and his partner (in more senses than one) Victoria are a key part of the taskforce left on Earth to syphon off vital supplies like fresh water and protect the hardware from what remain of the “scavengers” who destroyed the planet in the first place. It’s a pretty lonely job – mostly it’s just the two of them – but Jack and Victoria don’t really complain. That being said, it is almost the end of their mission, two weeks later and they will be sent back home for a hero’s welcome and much more low-risk jobs. But as time goes on, something is nagging at Jack, even though he is not quite sure what it is himself… He is plagued by constant, strange dreams and a nagging feeling something is not quite right… Not that he can see what could possibly be wrong… It’s just another day in paradise… No?

Ok, I’m going to do something I rarely do. My review is going to contain a bit of a spoiler so be warned. The thing is this film is just TOO similar to a film I really, really like and admire for me to ignore in this review. The thing is, and my point is, that the storyline itself is just so powerful that there was absolutely NO need to Hollywood it up.

I’m talking about Moon, directed by Duncan Jones. I mean, think about the story of Moon for a second. Why oh why oh why did they have to jazz it up? Insert not just a love interest but a full-blown love triangle if you please, all the “typical” trope characters, a wise, older man to give advice (although Morgan Freeman can really do no wrong in my eyes) and a young rebel who “doesn’t trust” Jack, to whom Jack must prove himself (a very wise attempt by Nicolaj Coster-Waldau to prove he can do things apart from Game of Thrones. Though judging by the fact my friend asked “Isn’t that the Kingslayer?” (not even Jamie Lanister mind you, Kingslayer)  when he came on, it may be too little too late. Much in the same way that Daniel Ratcliffe is called “Harry Potter” now and probably for the next 5 – 10 years at least.). There are more special effects than you can shake a stick at. Beautifully done – hence it prompted me to wish I could do that – but still, too much. We even have (here comes the real spoiler) a perfect  “family unit re-united” type ending.  How many actual characters did Duncan Jones have in his movie? One. Well, one man and a robot. How awesome was the film? Pretty f.ckin awesome. The topic is one that, I feel, might well become one that deserves exploration in the future. It is being explored today, slowly and surely in popular culture but there is still a lot of scope for originality. Moon does a wonderful job of looking at the psychology of Sam (the equivalent to Jack) and the entire process of his “awakening” from the first inkling that something is wrong to the sickening confrontation with his own reality. I left that film seriously questioning my own sense of reality for a second there. Oblivion takes a beautiful topic with true philosophical potential and reduces it to big guns, open references to the Matrix (well that or a seriously atheist message : remember the dialogue? “I am your god” - “F.ck you”) and beautiful people making out. I mean, it makes for a fun night out and all but it’s a real waste. It takes something that could be truly original and makes into something we’ve seen a thousand times before. I have to say, that takes some doing.

Now, I know I sound a bit venomous as I talk about it, but really, I don’t necessarily mean to dissuade you from watching it. Like I said, it is a fun night out. I was ranting to my friend about the ending especially (I’m not averse to happy endings. I just hate forced happy endings. Unrealistic ones. The friend I watched it with protested loudly when I called the ending  “naff”. “No, I like happy endings! If they’re missing I feel as if the film is missing a whole bit!” she exclaimed. Well, it depends on what you watch the movie for of course. You watch this one purely for entertainment, despite the potential…