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“Oblivion” might be the most polished hunk of junk you’ll see in theaters all year. Visually, it’s immaculately realized, with sci-fi gadgetry wholly considered down to the last sterile detail, and striking vistas, like a sky streaked with the debris of Earth’s obliterated moon, that come nearly burn themselves in the memory.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, this 2077-set tale spares no effort or expense in presenting a vivid post-apocalyptic Earth, which was overrun by alien machines, then abandoned by survivors who fled to a distant moon called Titan.
If that brief description gave you whiffs of other films, like “The Matrix,” just wait until you absorb the full story, which plagiarizes a surfeit of established plot points. The evocation of “Planet of the Apes” via a half-buried Lady Liberty isn’t so bad, but that’s just — ahem — the tip of the movie’s ripoff-happy iceberg. The only apparent people left on Earth are Jack (Tom Cruise) and his partner Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), who operate like human Wall-Es, cleaning up the dystopian debris and hunting lingering enemies. In two weeks, they’ll also be off to Titan, a nirvana that’s idolized in a manner not unlike the titular locale in “The Island.”
Also pillaged for ideas are “Moon,” “Independence Day,” and “Titan A.E.,” which proves “Oblivion” didn’t even have the courtesy to choose an original name for its colonized Earth alternative. As any critic has griped ad nauseum, originality is rare in Hollywood. But rarer still is a film that so blatantly exhibits such profound deficits of identity or unique authorship. Character is a total afterthought, short of the hammered-to-death establishment of Jack as the Christlike “chosen one.”
Which is where “Oblivion” shifts from nagging to deplorable. Surprisingly, Cruise doesn’t hold a producing credit here, but the project reeks of his self-aggrandizing influence, which has been previously smeared on everything from “Vanilla Sky” to “Mission: Impossible.” The star’s latest is a dud well before it’s revealed that he is, in short, the ultimate human prototype, but then it becomes something far worse indeed: Yet another Cruise vanity project.
Oblivion
PG-13
One reel out of four
Now playing at area theaters
Recommended Rental
Silver Linings Playbook
R
Available Tuesday
It may not be quite the triumph so many hailed it as, but the Philly-set “Silver Linings Playbook,” directed by David O. Russell, is pretty much must-see viewing for local film buffs, who’ll latch on to the familiar locales and the abundance of Eagles love. Moreover, it boasts a wealth of fine performances, especially from Robert De Niro and a dazzling Jennifer Lawrence.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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