Oblivion

OBLIVION – I saw this with some amazing people tonight. First off, I feel the need to say that apparently the reviewers who compared this to WALL-E with Tom Cruise watched something else. This movie is exactly what Hollywood needs right now.Instead of a rehashed version of something that has already been done, we get a fresh new wonderfully committed and superbly executed effort.

 First let's look at the story, which is really strong despite what you may have read. Basically, Earth has been destroyed and Jack and Victoria are there to ensure that these crazed lunatic aliens who we defeated by nukes don’t ravage what is left, or so that is what everyone thinks. I am not going to spoil it, but there are a few jaw dropping moments in this one that make the movie worth your visit to the theater.

 Oddly, the chemistry between Jack (Tom Cruise who could have tried looking a little less like he was playing HALO during the flying sequences) and Julia (Olga Kurylenko famous for Hitman and Quantum Of Solace) is a bit less believable than his on screen time with Victoria (Andrea Riseborough). We also get head scratching issues with the timeline in the film (OKAY ONE SPOILER IN 5,4,3,2….)(like how the heck did his wife not age after being on the Odyssey for 60 years) but none of them are big enough to worry about and none of them haven’t been introduced in space travel ideology prior to now. By way of comparison, certain aspects of  JJ Abrams' STAR TREK were more confusing than this.

Having said that, there is a lot of treasure in the narrative that almost begs your head to do a re-take after watching this, because often what we hear in the film is just as important as what we see. For being one of the few films this year that feels like a vacation to another world, I have to give OBLIVION a solid 5 out of 7. It probably won’t end up as fun as some of the movies that come out this year, but the effort and execution is something to behold. On a final note, watch out for “Bob” he tends to freak out when he gets stressed.


5 out of 7 : Definition - VERY GOOD This movie leaves you with that feeling that although everything may not be okay, girls can kick butt and one man can save the world with either one bullet left in the chamber or some special power he discovered 5 minutes ago. This movie is a good time and makes you wonder how many people you can tell about it's awesomeness the next day at work.

Expanded Definition : Slightly less awesome than a "6" rating, this movie is well worth your time and skipping American Idol or the N.B.A. playoffs to watch. Having said that, it is not recommended that you watch any movie while the N.H.L. Playoffs are on because hockey rules your face, you got that. You also need to buy this movie on BLU-RAY or some higher format because not doing so will just mean you are cutting corners real movie lovers just don't.