Oblivion - K

I wouldn't call myself a Tom Cruise “fan” because I don’t go see just any of his movies.  I would say that when I see his name involved with a movie, I make a pretty safe bet it’s going to be solid, Minority Report, Mission Impossibles, Top Gun, A Few Good Men to name a few.  So when I went to see Oblivion I was going to see a movie that had a fun sci-fi premise and at least one talented actor.  What I didn't expect or count on was less than mediocre acting from the rest of the cast (not quite including Morgan Freeman) and the plot to, not...fall apart, but become ludicrous and cliché at the same time. 

Acting:  While Tom Cruise performed at his usual high standard of acting and Morgan Freeman did a good mail in job (although I admit he played the typecast “leader” part well for what it was and for his limited screen time), I have yet to decide if Andrea Riseborough/Victoria can’t act, if Joseph Kosinski is that bad of a director (he did direct the 2010 Tron, if that tells you anything) or if maybe the character was just that badly written of a character.  The Olga Kurylenko/Julia combination was better, but not by a lot.

Plot: Well, I know I won’t be reading the Graphic Novel Original Story of Oblivion by Joseph Kosinski any time soon.  Yes, Karl Gajdusek and Michael Arndt adapted it to the screen, but as Kosinski here was the director, I would think the underlying plot wouldn't have changed all that much.  Now, Gajdusek hasn't worked on anything I've heard of, but Arndt has collaborated on some, while I haven’t seen, I have heard of, Toy Story 3, Brave and even the upcoming Hunger Games:Catching Fire.  Combined, I would have hoped that the plot turned out better.  Without giving anything away it’s hard to tell you why I was so bored by the movie.  Tom Cruise was great, but I kept waiting for something to happen, yet the plot moved so slowly.  And when it did start happening, the big reveal was more like a “what the heck, really?!” then a “oh, wow, didn't see that coming”.  And the ending was very reminiscent of Independence Day.  The plot wasn't terrible, just had a bad middle and a “saw that coming” ending.

Overall: I’ll give the movie a C; (A+ acting rounded out by C- acting) and a C+ plot.  It gets the + due to being a si-fi movie and tried to be different.  Just didn't work out so well all the way.  Would I have saved my theatre money?  For sure.  Worth watching at least once?  For sure.  Worth buying or watching again?  Not really.