Oblivion (2013)
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Jack Harper is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete. His existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.
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But by the very nature of Harper's mandated 'mind wipe,' Cruise comes off as a bit robotic and Kosinksi's story is such a mishmash of those that have come before, everything from "WALL*E" to "Star Wars" to "Total Recall" to "An Affair to Remember," that instead of becoming immersed in it, it becomes a game of spot the reference.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Kosinski's film seems haunted by vestigial memories of its own, containing as it does repeated echoes of films as diverse as "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Planet of the Apes," "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," the animated "Wall*E" and even the classic romance "An Affair to Remember."
Oblivion is so much like and influenced by so many other movies that it doesn’t top or transcend — The Matrix, I Am Legend, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, Aliens, Vertigo, Cloud Atlas, Inception, An Affair to Remember.
Along the way, my mind turned to "Wall-E," "Moon," "Independence Day," and even "An Affair to Remember," to name only a few of the many other works Kosinski borrows from.
Oblivion must be the only science-fiction film that borrows substantially from I Am Legend, WALL-E and Sleepless in Seattle — itself a remake of 1957’s An Affair to Remember, which was a remake of 1939’s Love Affair.
You know a pictures derivative when a list of titles in the same genre technically constitutes a string of spoilers Blade Runner, Independence Day, The Matrix, Moon, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, WALL-E, 2001.
So despite the fact that well-read sci-fi fanatics might get distracted while mentally ticking off familiar plot points (Independence Day, Moon) and visual references (2001: A Space Odyssey), the upside is that, derivative as Oblivion may be in many respects, it still manages to hold our attention by presenting compelling ideas about our concept of reality, and prodding our imaginations by avoiding simple answers and explanations.
, who proved with "Independence Day" that you can make an entire entertainment out of nothing but shameless references to past sci-fi hits.
Along the way, my mind turned to "Wall-E," "Moon," "Independence Day," and even "An Affair to Remember," to name only a few of the many other works Kosinski borrows from.
Cuz then you walk into Oblivion with no recollection of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Independence Day and 2012 and The Road Warrior and Planet of the Apes and the entire history of science fiction movies, and hence you’ll enjoy yourself ever so much more.
Focusing on duplicating a litany of big screen inspirations like Independence Day, Moon and, surprisingly, The English Patient, Kosinski doesn’t seem interested in carving out a unique voice for himself.
Sci-fi zealots might find it fun to count off the references to “La Jetee,” “Planet of the Apes,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and “The Empire Strikes Back.”
It's a mixture of La jetée , 2001: A Space Odyssey , Planet of the Apes , Total Recall and Wall-E .
This sort of viewer-insulting writing is entirely typical of the film's continuing deference to simplicity, where every sensationalistic twist is either telegraphed too far in advance or all too cheaply withheld, the sum total of its gasp-stacking turnabouts little more than Moon meets a thinly veiled La Jetée —or, frankly, any other two science-fiction films with novel twists you'd care to name, since Oblivion is indiscriminate about the sources it rips off.
If Kosinski really wanted to make a sci-fi movie in the spirit of early classics like Chris Marker’s La Jetée and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris as he has mentioned , then he should have engaged more fully with his characters’ personal crises and not added Morgan Freeman and Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to muddle things up, brooding around in “Matrix”-like outfits with capes and making big, dumb speeches.
But Cruise plays Jack’s reactions so convincingly that you can’t help but go along with them, and Kosinski crafts an immersive world that borrows from the long history of science-fiction cinema (including Solaris, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes, to name a few) without coming off as a direct rip-off of anything in particular.
Sci-fi zealots might find it fun to count off the references to “La Jetee,” “Planet of the Apes,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and “The Empire Strikes Back.”
And it doesn't help that the film’s mysteries unravel so slowly that the film is three-fourths over by the time Act One breaks, nor that the plot developments are, on the whole, so by-the-numbers it’s impossible not to dwell on the crater-sized plot holes and the countless cribbings from much better movies like Total Recall, Planet of the Apes, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
You know a pictures derivative when a list of titles in the same genre technically constitutes a string of spoilers Blade Runner, Independence Day, The Matrix, Moon, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, WALL-E, 2001.
Plot points, images, and themes are cobbled together from a raft of sci-fi films including The Matrix, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Moon, Wall-E, and Planet of the Apes, among others.
It's a mixture of La jetée , 2001: A Space Odyssey , Planet of the Apes , Total Recall and Wall-E .
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It calls up fleeting images from things like Star Wars , The Road Warrior , and Top Gun, but more importantly, it borrows at least half the plot from Duncan Jones's amazing, underrated Moon (2009).
There are distracting vibes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Wall-E, Total Recall, TV’s Battlestar Galactica, the underrated Moon — even Star Wars.
And writer-director Joseph Kosinski has nabbed bits of "Star Wars," "WALL-E," "Independence Day," "The Matrix" and so many other films that after-movie discussions will surely involve pin-that-scene-on-what-donkey games.
If J.J. Abrams wanted to hire him to revamp the look of Star Wars, I doubt anyone would object.
Oblivion is so much like and influenced by so many other movies that it doesn't top or transcend The Matrix, I Am Legend, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, Aliens, Vertigo, Cloud Atlas, Inception, An Affair to Remember.
You know a pictures derivative when a list of titles in the same genre technically constitutes a string of spoilers Blade Runner, Independence Day, The Matrix, Moon, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, WALL-E, 2001.
But Cruise plays Jack’s reactions so convincingly that you can’t help but go along with them, and Kosinski crafts an immersive world that borrows from the long history of science-fiction cinema (including Solaris, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes, to name a few) without coming off as a direct rip-off of anything in particular.
Sci-fi zealots might find it fun to count off the references to “La Jetee,” “Planet of the Apes,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and “The Empire Strikes Back.”
And it doesn't help that the film’s mysteries unravel so slowly that the film is three-fourths over by the time Act One breaks, nor that the plot developments are, on the whole, so by-the-numbers it’s impossible not to dwell on the crater-sized plot holes and the countless cribbings from much better movies like Total Recall, Planet of the Apes, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Plot points, images, and themes are cobbled together from a raft of sci-fi films including The Matrix, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Moon, Wall-E, and Planet of the Apes, among others.
Like that movie, “Oblivion” incorporates all sorts of themes, ideas and images from science-fiction cinema of the last several decades, including “Blade Runner,” “The Matrix,” “Total Recall,” “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Solaris,” among others.
It's a mixture of La jetée , 2001: A Space Odyssey , Planet of the Apes , Total Recall and Wall-E .
But Cruise plays Jack’s reactions so convincingly that you can’t help but go along with them, and Kosinski crafts an immersive world that borrows from the long history of science-fiction cinema (including Solaris, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes, to name a few) without coming off as a direct rip-off of anything in particular.
Like that movie, “Oblivion” incorporates all sorts of themes, ideas and images from science-fiction cinema of the last several decades, including “Blade Runner,” “The Matrix,” “Total Recall,” “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Solaris,” among others.
Oblivion lifts liberally from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Solaris, Moon, Sunshine, WALL-E, and pretty much every other science fiction film worth a damn.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love asteroid collisions, alien death rays and intergalactic battles as much as the next nerd, but there is still a lot to be said for the likes of “2001,” “Solaris” (which I still think would be a great name for a midsized Chevy sedan) and “Moon,” just to name a few.
It’s disappointing that after a promising start, the big-budget “Oblivion” fails at the kind of twisty tug-of-war stuff a small movie like “Moon” did so memorably.
The movie's not bad for a while, but it's made of spare parts from a lot of other movies, among them "Total Recall," "2001: A Space Odyssey," the "2001" riff "Moon," a certain recent play by Caryl Churchill (can't say; spoiler) and a few others.
To get there, it piggybacks on the likes of " I Am Legend ," " The Matrix ," " Independence Day ," and " Moon ."
It may not be a direct remake of 2001, but boy does it borrow plenty of design and story elements from that movie, as well as from such other sci-fi features as Moon, Wall-E and even Zardoz.
Co-writer-director Joseph Kosinski (“TRON: Legacy”) digs all the way to the back of the refrigerator for “Oblivion,” taking leftover bits of “The Matrix,” “WALL-E,” “2001,” “Moon” and “Planet of the Apes,” among countless other science-fiction classics, and putting them into a slick, shiny and state-of-the-art crock pot.
It calls up fleeting images from things like Star Wars , The Road Warrior , and Top Gun, but more importantly, it borrows at least half the plot from Duncan Jones's amazing, underrated Moon (2009).
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You know a pictures derivative when a list of titles in the same genre technically constitutes a string of spoilers Blade Runner, Independence Day, The Matrix, Moon, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, WALL-E, 2001.
Like that movie, “Oblivion” incorporates all sorts of themes, ideas and images from science-fiction cinema of the last several decades, including “Blade Runner,” “The Matrix,” “Total Recall,” “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Solaris,” among others.
An ear-grabbing score led by M83, the French electronic band helmed by Anthony Gonzalez, teases themes from sci-fi movies past (Star Wars and Blade Runner among them).
I would describe the movie as a mash-up of The Matrix, Blade Runner, and Planet of the Apes, but that makes it sound better than it is.
The orbs have a rapport with Jack that gives you that Blade Runner replicant feeling about him.
And I found myself wondering if co-writer/director Joseph Kosinski had put that voice-over in originally, or if it was the result of prodding by the suits, a la Blade Runner.
“Oblivion” pays homage to modern classic sci-fi films such as “The Matrix,” “The Terminator,” the original “Total Recall” and tons of shout outs to “Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back” without making it feel like a complete rip-off.
Everything from the glorious Minority Report to last year's dreadful Total Recall remake walk a fine line between creating an impressive dystopic future world and falling in love with it; nearly all of these movies end with our heroes rejecting the sleek new technology in favor of a rougher, more human life, even if we've spent the entire film being dazzled by the future we're supposed to fear.
All of those are very much in evidence in "Oblivion," but sci-fi fans will detect additional echoes of recent genre touchstones including "Total Recall," "The Matrix," "Moon" and even "WALL-E."
There are hints of mind-tampering (Total Recall) as Jack and Vika (Andrea Riseborough), his British partner and bedmate, take orders from a computer named Sally, a magnolia-voiced Melissa Leo (think HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey).
Although Universal’s publicity department has asked that journalists refrain from spilling the secrets of “ Oblivion ,” the major revelations, once they arrive, will hardly surprise anyone familiar with “Total Recall,” “The Matrix” and the countless other sci-fi touchstones hovering over this striking, visually resplendent adventure.
And it doesn't help that the film’s mysteries unravel so slowly that the film is three-fourths over by the time Act One breaks, nor that the plot developments are, on the whole, so by-the-numbers it’s impossible not to dwell on the crater-sized plot holes and the countless cribbings from much better movies like Total Recall, Planet of the Apes, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.