Oblivion

When watching Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi worlds, it’s impossible not to forgive them for any plot shortcomings, if there even are any shortcomings to speak of. His vision of technical and design excellence and the ambient feel of the “sound of reality” are so unique that the need to guide the audience through the story almost disappears. Kosinski goes beyond our dream imagination. Living in his world means not needing the sense of smell. In addition, Oblivion moves forward not through shootouts, but through unexpected twists, and the atmosphere is fantastic, given the minimalist set designs (by which I mean the beautiful, barren exteriors of Iceland and California, where nothing flashes or shines). The sound and music arrangement in the pool scene, and the pool scene itself, made this movie what it is and almost gave me an orgasm. Recalling the dressing scene in TRON: Legacy, I begin to hope that Kosinski is laying the cornerstone of a new sub-genre of transcendental erotic-sci-fi (i.e. something that would make your brain come). Once Google (and FilmBooster) take over the world, it will happen with M83 playing in the background. (15/04/2013)

The main reason that Oblivion will fade from the viewer’s consciousness faster than TRON is not that Kosinski steals from his colleagues (Stanton, Jones, Lawrence, Trumbull, Kubrick, the Wachowskis), thus making it apparent how inferior he is as a storyteller, but that he steals from himself. The original wow effect is diminished significantly by the repetition of the same approach, especially in a world without the possibility of “edit levels”, which was a boon for video-game designers and fans. However, that effect was powerful enough to keep me entertained for the whole two hours, intoxicated by the film’s audio-visual perfection. Kosinski’s nerdish approach to the characters makes a human a bearer of meanings comparable in value to a robot, landscape or piece of furniture (while being at the same level with his significantly limited use of common sense). The geometric compositions of the shots, whose actual content becomes less substantial than the surface message, are more important than words and emotions. Everything and everyone serves to complement the overall design, to which the protagonists’ motivations and the direction of the plot are subordinated. The final scene, which shows us that we have probably misdirected our emotions, can be understood as a mockery of the standard “entry” into the story through identification with the characters. Kosinski is uniquely capable of connecting movement with sound, which is “applied” to the picture in individual layers, and the result is the same as in TRON, a mainstream variation on an audio-visual symphony. The plot is a bit too much, though without it (and without Cruise and his varying uncomprehending expression) a $120 million project like this  would not have been made. However, I wouldn’t underrate the film as a whole because of its lifeless characters, unoriginal subject or illogical actions, because on another level it offers an inspiring statement on the current social reality of efficient working teams, to which people devote themselves to such an extent that they lose their identity in them together with their ability to live authentically. The first half of film, devoid of plot (and thus better), with its parody of the perfect partnered relationship and its depiction of a work activity that involves only maintenance with no particular goal or chance of real (and potentially dangerous to the system) change of conditions, says more about today’s world than many art films with an uglier design. And Oblivion is definitely a film made for IMAX! 80% (15/04/2013)

Kosinski is still a much better designer than the narrator, but I'm quite pleased that, unlike Tron, the action scenes have massive energy. What are still miserable are the dialogues, especially the key ones, cut boringly in shots / counter-shots sequences. It feels like there was a comic book first. Kosinski sculpturally frames the characters somewhere and then lets them chant a text, which unfortunately lacks speech bubbles for being iconic and striking. Like all of the objects in Oblivion, the actors act more for aesthetic purposes. And you know what? I don't give a fuck. The scale is epic, clean and shiny, the clinical and illuminated visual is breathtaking in every detail, the hypnotic sound waves of M83 give it an inconvenient depth... I consider the first half an hour or so to be the captivating audiovisual trip that I expect from current sci-fi films (and usually don't get). As soon as the inevitable comes along and the story unfolds, Oblivion drowns in the familiar twists and unfinished ideas (will anyone pay Duncan Jones his royalties?)... but the action goes away, the image is overflowing with the sort of pomp I haven't seen in a long time (forget the experiments by Prometheus that are short of breath) and those few noticeably unsuccessful attempts to "make a thrilling story" will be destroyed by the bulldozer of the ultimate design. Finally, I understand what some viewers liked about Tron - Oblivion is also a brilliantly designed "sci-fi musical", this time with music that drew me in and sometimes, in collaboration with the image, gave me a taste of unadulterated euphoria from the big screen. It can be seen that it was supposed to be / wanted to be more than just a breathtaking spectacle, that someone wanted to move the promising indie trend of intelligent sci-fi to a blockbuster format and buried it with "fanzine" storytelling... but sometimes even a failed intention can offer enough space for spectator delight. Oblivion and I are an effective team. [75%] (15/04/2013)

Lots of mysterious promises, but (mainly because of the stupid trailers) few surprises, lots of questions, but few answers (i.e., few answers that don't feel like they've been hastily pulled out of thin air)... Fortunately, everything is impressively crafted, the design of all the machines, buildings and weapons is a joy to behold, Tom Cruise is likeable, whilst the music is pleasantly meditative, though nothing memorable. Three and a half stars. I preferred Elysium, which didn't try to be something it wasn’t for most of its duration. (11/10/2014)

The most interesting ideas from the best sci-fi fantasy movies blended like a smoothie from Jamba. Cruise plays a human version of Wall-E, but thanks to a large amount of evolution leaps, he has become the biggest boss on the planet. Other cast members worth a mention (apart from Morgan, he never disappoints) include the new discovery Andrea Riseborough, who won my heart in the scene in the pool. Paradoxically, Olga isn’t so impressive in this movie. But what makes Oblivion such a unique movie is the visual side. In terms of design, everything is very novel, it has the right massive scale and the final trip, combined with reminiscing about how it all began, is something so audiovisually/sci-fi-wise perfect (I want Kosinski to film “Rendezvous with Rama", or something by Asimov), that I was tempted to give it a fifth star. It bothered me a little bit that M83’s music wasn’t as wow was expected. It reminds me a lot of TDK and Tron, even so it sets a more than decent standard among the competition. P.S.: I was completely alone in the largest screen in the theater = no interference. :) (23/04/2013)