Review of Oblivion (2013) by James W — 03 Jul 2014

There's always that one film you see where words cannot describe how much you love and enjoy it. The experience leaves you breathless and lost for words, and jaw dropped almost immediately the moment it starts. Well that's me with Oblivion, Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski has created the most immersive, stunning and vivid world ravaged by war, and it's populated with gripping characters and knockout action sequences.

Tom Cruise is Jack Harper, a Drone repairmen and one of the last men on earth, alongside is Victoria, his computer specialist, who monitors the Drone activity. On a routine zone check Harper discovers a downed vessel, in the wreckage lies Julia Rusakova, a woman that holds a key to his past, and she causes him to question everything he knows about himself and his mission. I love how the story unfolds, showing Jack's normal day tasks and his relationship with Victoria, but as soon as Julia is involved his past comes back to him, events progress and twists and turns are thrown at you from all directions and they shock. There are a lot of lump-in-your-throat scenes that hit hard, mainly in the last thirty minutes.

The world of Oblivion looks so real, famous landmarks have fallen and nature has taken over. Whilst it all looks ruined there is a beauty to it, the Superbowl stadium looks incredible as does the destroyed Moon which fills the sky. The Bubble-ship is a stunning piece of craft, I saw the making of the Ship and the way it's been implemented into the film which is wonderful. Tower 49 is visually remarkable and the characters feel melded to the set, it's as if Apple have had a huge input into the films set design! It's a striking movie that is just beautiful, the skies are sun-scorched and it's a sight to behold. The sound design is near perfect too, the sound of the Drone's beeping and scanning is atmospheric and sinister, especially in the abandoned library scene.

I think this is Tom Cruise' best performance in years, he's not playing his usual cool and tough guy, Harper is attached to the world he lives in and wants to stay, but Victoria dreams of leaving and going to the tet, a vast and giant tetrahedral space station that orbits Earth. Andrea Riseborough is wonderful, you can just tell how committed she is to the script and how much fun she is having, it's great seeing strong British talent working opposite a Hollywood megastar! I absolutely love Olga Kurylenko, she still remains my favourite Bond girl and I've seen her in numerous other roles and she is spectacular, but in Oblivion she brings her A-game as every scene she is in there's hard hitting emotion, plus her character is most interesting as she holds the real secret behind Harper's past and the world around him. It's a near perfect movie in my opinion. No movie can be perfect but it can get to the point where it's so close. The action in this movie rocks, the Bubbleship chase in the canyon is edge of your seat excitement, the finale is earth shattering brilliance and I loved the Drone attack in Beech's underground stronghold, but it's after that very attack that Oblivion goes out on a high, so much of a high I'm going to dedicate a whole paragraph towards it!

This moment delivers a huge emotional payoff thanks to M83's incredible soundtrack which is the actual reason for the knockout delivery of this scene. The music starts off with a low violin, you know there's a build up coming to something amazing. The mission is almost ruined, so Harper decides to personally take the bomb up to the tet himself, and Julia wants to go with him. As they say their final goodbye locking themselves in the Sleep Pods, the soundtrack kicks in with a techno piano like sound, then as Harper exits the stronghold the big drums ramping up the excitement and then boom come the horns, as he makes his way to finish his mission, the score kicks in, it's wonderful. I got shivers and chills, my jaw dropped, it is the defining moment of the film that hit me the most. You have to see it for yourself to understand the greatness here. An all round near perfect movie experience that I'll never forget.

An unforgettable journey filled with mesmerising visuals, stunning soundtracks, top actors and performances and a world like no other, this will be one of my favourite movies of all time.