Kidzworld reviews the new movie Oblivion, the thoughtful and exciting new Sci-Fi thriller!
By: Lynn Barker
Tom Cruise is Jack, one confused repair man. He’s the final clean-up crew after a war with invading aliens that we supposedly won, but the planet is destroyed. Soon, he is to go off-world and join the remaining human race on Titan. When a gorgeous astronaut survives a ship crash, she tells him everything he knows is a lie! Talk about a buzz kill!
Tom Cruise watches machines take our oceans
High Above It All
It’s 2077 and, after we destroyed invading aliens by nuking the planet, Earth is a ruin. From his cool suspended crib high above the clouds, Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) provides security and repairs killer drones that hold off remaining alien scavengers while big alien machines suck up the last of Earth’s resources to send to the new human colony on Titan, a moon orbiting Saturn.
Jack fights a rogue drone
Impossible Dreams
Jack would be happy with his “partner”, pretty and efficient Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) but he keeps having dreams of reuniting with a beautiful, dark-haired woman on a pre-destruction New York street. He wasn’t alive on pre-destroyed Earth so how can these dreams seem so real? Why does he feel so strongly attached to the Earth of the past?
The bubbleship over ruined New York City
Dreams Come Crashing Down
With two weeks on Earth to go before transferring to Titan, Jack fixes drones while avoiding mysterious Scavengers that we see watching him. When an earlier era NASA spacecraft crash lands, several human passengers are still alive in escape pods. The drones go rogue and start killing them. Jack is only able to save Julia Rosakova (Olga Kurylenko) who looks exactly like the mystery woman in his dreams!
Jack confronts a malfunctioning drone
New Discoveries
Trying to understand Julia’s insistence that Jack is not who he thinks he is, he also discovers that the “Scavs” are not alien but human resistance fighters led by Malcolm Beech (Morgan Freeman). Once Jack enters a forbidden Radiation Zone, it’s him, Julia and the Resistance against a totally unexpected enemy. What he discovers will change his life and the future of Earth.
Wrapping Up
Oblivion looks amazing! From the Cloud City look of Cruise’s high-tech, suspended home and the cool Bubbleship he files and futuristic cycle he drives to the ruins of familiar Earth landmarks, the special effects wizards have outdone themselves. Action scenes are exciting but, happily, this Sci-Fi film has an interesting mystery and love story that is exposed gradually throughout the movie. Sci-Fi with heart is one of my favorite things. Sure, there are some logic holes in the plot and that’s annoying but not enough to remove the audience from the story.
Jack's amazing suspended home
We root for Jack (Cruise) who, like little robot Wall-E, is left behind on a ruined Earth clinging to what is left of our plant life. He’s the clean-up crew and he makes some pretty unsettling discoveries not only about who he is but about the fate of humankind. Cruise is certainly up to speed in action scenes but also convinces in the emotional, evolving love story. Olga Kuryenko as the mystery astronaut who turns his world upside down doesn’t have much to do but does it well and elegant and wise Morgan Freeman gets some tough guy action of his own for a change.
The poster
The mystery story might be too confusing for younger kids but they can enjoy the eye-popping special effects and action. Older tweens and teens will “get” what is revealed for the most part. With effects, action AND a love story, Oblivion should make a cool “date” movie as well. We had enough fun to go 4 out of 5 stars.
Oblivion Movie Rating: 
