'OBLIVION'

'OBLIVION' (PG-13) (2 STARS)
Written by Karl Gadjusek and Michael DeBruyn
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Actors: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo.

I love movies and I really get why certain film makers borrow from every great writer and director they can think of. Sometimes they borrow without really knowing it. Science Fiction movies are a genre of film that gets copied a lot. The makers of "Oblivion" are certainly inspired by the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece "2001". There are many things here that pay homage to "2001" like the look of the movie and the Hal like voice here by one of the characters. "Oblivion" is a beautiful looking movie but it feels like I have seen it done before and much better. Also the movie's story takes a little from "Wall E" and mixes it with "2001" and this director's "Tron:Legacy". This pale copy of better movies is also dull, empty and stars a miscast Tom Cruise.

The movie again is pristine, very well shot and beautiful to look at but the story takes a good 45 minutes to kick in. It is like sitting down with an extremely beautiful woman until 45 minutes in you realize she has no personality and nothing interesting to say. The slow pacing worked with something like "2001" because that movie was suspenseful and the story was fascinating. "Oblivion" is just very confusing and the love story at the center left me cold. I also think Cruise is miscast here when someone younger would have been more effective. I think the film makers forgot that Cruise is 50, even though he looks 30, and his love interests here are quite younger. There is no chemistry between him and his leading ladies here adding to the very dull story.

Like the look of this film I really do like all the female performances and while Tom Cruise is good here, the women outshine him because their characters are more interesting. Andrea Riseborough is very effective her especially after seeing a much different and equally great performance in last week's "Disconnect". She is very effective here as Vika who we first see partnered with Cruise as a couple that is exploring the wasteland of Earth after a devastating war. I also like the very beautiful Olga Kurylenko as another woman that has equal ties to the Cruise character. I won't spoil the plot of this movie becase both woman's roles in the movie are part of the story's surpise.

My favorite part of this movie was the twisted character and delightful performance of that character by the great Melissa Leo. We see her on a small screen communicating with Cruise but hear her voice more often and her character is a dead ringer for Hal from "2001". It is a chilling, funny and entertaining performance and it is such a small part of this movie but it is the only part that lingers after the movie is over. It certainly is not the story which really has very little to say and I grew very tired of the numerous, boring shootouts as Cruise and others keep shooting at space orbs. You can also add that those shootouts were done much more effectively in any "Star Wars" movie. Also when you have the great Morgan Freeman in a movie and he doesn't register at all well...

So what you have with "Oblivion" is a miscast, too old Tom Cruise when a younger actor that would match the youthful, rebellious character would have been more effective. You have a pale and duller copy of better science fiction movies and a story that never grabs you. You do have some great female performances, especially Melissa Leo, and a beautiful looking movie but you also have a movie you won't even remember days after. Tom Cruise can do this kind of movie so well when he has great writers and a great director like Steven Spielberg. "Minority Report" was a wonderful and special masterpiece of a science fiction movie and I was hoping here a movie that was at least half as glorious as that classic. "Oblivion" is a very good looking beauty without any personality or imagination.