Science fiction has always been a hard sell. For all its
potential entertainment value in special effects, creature design, and
production creativity, it is essentially a genre based on visually and
dramatically enhanced ideas. Because of this, it often ebbs and flows with
current trends in politics, sociology and advancements in technology—both inside
and out of the film industry. Perhaps brought upon by success of films such as
“Inception” and “District 9”, it would seem like we are currently in another
one of those creative wellsprings of science fiction output.
In 2010
Joseph Kosinski helmed the enormous responsibility of directing a re-launch of
the 1982 cult Disney film “TRON”. While
the story of “TRON: Legacy”, the belated sequel, may have lacked substance,
visually it was an impressive first effort and it managed to use 3D in a
creative way that actually had a narrative purpose. Following up that massive
hit, Kosinski has now released his own sci-fi brain-child, “Oblivion”, a twisting
psycho-thriller that tries to encompass all kinds of ideas about the nature of
technology, the nature of war, and the search for truth in identity.
“Oblivion” tells the story of a professional
and romantic couple, played by Tom Cruise and Andrea Riseborough, who are
responsible for monitoring the remaining life on earth after a nuclear war with
an unknown alien force has desolated our planet. Despite the relative danger of their
jobs—occasionally encountering a stranded alien soldier—they have a pretty
sweet life with each others love and cooperation, living peacefully in their
steel-blue, tech-heavy, future-condo. However, this is all challenged when Jack
is doing some routine drone repair and he discovers an attack on innocent human
survivors by the robots that are supposed to keep him safe. Adding to the
confusion is a female survivor (Olga Kurylenko) who looks just like the fantasy
wife of Jack’s faded dreams.
The art-direction,
lighting and cinematography in this film are nothing short of breathtaking.
Like “TRON: Legacy”, Kosinski knows how to create a haunting tone and even when
the plot slows down to curious crawl, you are still able to soak in all the impressive
surfaces. But like many visually oriented directors Kosinki sometimes struggles
with his actors.
Tom
Cruise, who’s been enjoying something of a late swell in his career, does what
he is paid to do here and carries this film well enough, but I couldn’t help
but wonder how the story might have benefited with an actor who brings less
distracting star-power. Because his character’s arc deals so heavily with his
existential wellbeing, Cruise’s Hollywood air of confidence and action bravado
keeps Jack’s interior dilemma at a frustrating distance—and the same could be
said about the underused Morgan Freeman.
Andrea Riseborough however, gives a graceful performance as the
willfully ignorant, and enigmatic, lover in charge. Kurylenko as the other female counterpart has
almost nothing to do and unfortunately her character is reduced to
a hollow macguffin.
It will
not go unnoticed that this movie refers to many other films in its science
fiction tradition. Some scenes might remind you of “2001: A Space Odyssey”,
another might recall “Silent Running”, others might bring to mind “Wall*E” and
there are even moments that reference more action driven flicks like “The
Matrix” and “Star Wars”. While it would be easy to see all of this pastiche,
hodge-podge as a lazy attempt at building a film out of the parts of better
movies, I choose to view it as love-letter to the genre as a whole. Either way,
does it ever eclipse or even match the quality of its preceding influences?
Usually it doesn’t, but I couldn’t help but be taken by this film’s ambition, atmosphere
and it’s sparse but dynamic visual sense.
“Oblivion” is a bulky genre exercise and as it
hops from one cinematic evocation to another, it occasionally stubs its toe.
But unlike many other movies that employ big special effects and Hollywood
A-listers, its heart is in the right place and it exudes a love and enthusiasm
for the kind of science fiction it’s trying to live up to. Though it’s not
without its action moments, it’s never racing to get to them and while the
pacing is sometimes a little awkward, I enjoyed the quiet intensity and
brooding style that Kosinski builds throughout.
In short, I can appreciate an imperfect film when its mistakes are made
with good intentions.
Originally published in the Idaho State Journal/April-2013
No comments:
Post a Comment