I've been waiting for what seems like ages for Oblivion to appear on Netflix since I missed it in the theaters. It seems like whenever we sit down to see a movie I crave action/adventure/sci-fi, which luckily Greg and Eve don't seem to mind, too much. The other night when I was whining about Oblivion not being on Netflix, my darling daughter found it at the library. (Side note: Eve is doing her filed work term here in Los Angeles working at the historic Central Library on Fifth Street in downtown LA.)
Oblivion was released in 2013, its based on a beautiful unpublished graphic novel by Joseph Kosinski, who went on the co-write, produce and direct the film.
I was captivated immediately by the visuals, its complete and utter glorious eye candy. The art direction is so seamless that I never questioned the plausibility this the post-apocalyptic landscapes and futuristic design and lifestyle of 2077.
Within the first five minutes I could tell I was going to be happy, and so many scenes reminded me of our artists friends we hang with at Spectrum and Comic Con! Besides the striking visuals the film is superbly acted by Tom Cruise as Jack Harper and Andrea Riseborough (We) as his partner and lover Victoria "Vika" Olsen. Despite these two pretty big components working at a high level the story is just okay, good but not great. The film felt a bit derivative, in the way Harry Potter is derivative, I was willing to let it go because I was extremely captivated and absorbed. There is so much beauty in the dualism of cinematic futurism paired with desolate Earth.
The thing about these type of films is that I can see how this future can easily manifest, particularly with how completely naive the population is and that StarScientific has fusion energy generators in Australia.
The film that Oblivion is most like is probably Moon with Sam Rockwell, but there are also nods to 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, (specifically Morgan Freeman's character is so very Morpheus-like.) Prometheus, a little Blade Runner and Minority Report. Given that all those films mentioned are some of my favorites it's a no brainer why I liked Oblivion.
What scents would I equate with this film...something cold and metallic (Figure 1:Noir) for the future paired with a bit of Earth (Terrestre) and some conifers with fresh, sweet mountain air (Sierra).
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