Review of Oblivion (2013) by Gerardo R — 30 Apr 2015
A very thoughtful sci-fi film. In terms of plot there are few surprises and the original surprises remain undecipherable. The visuals are great to watch and the concepts are thought-provoking but the execution fails to deliver.
SPOILERS I enjoyed the meditations on memory, knowledge and identity. Jack and Vicka are stationed in a futuristic apartment above the clouds after earth was left desolate from an alien attack. The moon was destroyed and natural disasters ensued.
Jack and Vicka believe that humans won the war but lost the earth. In the year 2077 humans have migrated to Titan, Saturn's moon. In two weeks Jack and Vicka will join the human colony. While Vicka is ready to complete her mission, Jack is having doubts about leaving Earth.
Jack starts to appreciate the little bits of earth he discovers when he escapes from his routine missions of fixing drones that attack Scavenger aliens. During one escapade he investigates a fallen ship and discovers other humans.
The drones attack the surviving pods but Jack rescues one survivor that looks like the woman from his dreams/memories. Jack discovers that he is a clone and the movie explores the identity of the clone.
Is the clone the same as the original human specimen. Can our identity exist outside of ourselves? What makes us truly human? How are memories connected to our essence? Can it be found in our DNA? The final plot sequence was confounding on many levels.
It raised a lot more questions than answers as to how exactly were alien forces abusing earth? Was the Tet ship controlled by an alien commander or was it controlled by Artificial Intelligence? How was the energy acquired from Earth by the Tet being transferred to alien galaxies? Was there a purpose to depleting earth's ability to produce energy? If there is no moon, how can the night scenes take place? As a reflection on our humanity, it is a worthwhile film to see, but the plot creates more problems and self-destructs the possibilities of the film.
This review of Oblivion (2013) was written by Gerardo R on 30 Apr 2015.
Oblivion has generally received positive reviews.
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