OBLIVION Is An Imagination-Packed Trip to the Twilight Zone

OBLIVION Review:

- I went into Oblivion having read some mixed and negative reviews. After having seen the film, I can say that it's probably not for everyone, but I can also say that I really enjoyed it. In fact, I'd call Oblivion one of the best real sci-fi movies in quite some time. Of course, I came into the film with certain predispositions. For one, I'm a sucker for any and all Twilight Zone-esque "nothing is as it seems" sci-fi. I love stories that play out like puzzles. And I love movies that can throw a unique, high-concept premise at me that actually makes me think. So many of the big sci-fi blockbusters these days give plot the short shrift in favor of big action and cool moments. Oblivion has both, but it's also got some real thought and discussion-provoking concepts at its core. For another thing, I count myself as a big fan of director Joseph Kosinski. Sure, some still claim that his first feature, Tron Legacy, was underwhelming. Maybe, perhaps ... I could see where the movie had some script issues. But visually? Stylistically? To me, Tron was 100% awesomesauce in that regard. Bottom line: I don't get Kosinski's detractors. The guy has a knack for crafting incredible visuals and eye-popping sci-fi worlds.

The less known about the plot specifics of Oblivion going in, the better. The very basic framework is this: Tom Cruise plays Jack, one of the last men on a now-desolate planet earth. Following an alien attack by a mysterious race known as the Scavs, humanity used a last-ditch nuclear countermeasure to destroy their enemies - but doing so left the earth largely irradiated and uninhabitable. The surviving humans have left earth and have migrated to a massive space station called The Tet, with the goal of eventually relocating to Titan, one of the moons of Saturn. To accomplish their goal, the humans have sent an army of drones to earth, to convert the oceans' water into energy and fuel for their journey. At various outpost towers around earth, the last remaining humans on the planet oversee the mission and the drones. In Tower 49, Jack and his partner/lover Victoria take orders via satellite feed from their commander, Sally. They are an efficient team, and they mostly do as they're told without question. But Jack - restless, nostalgic for the planet he's soon to leave behind, and plagued by visions of pre-war times - begins to sense that something is not quite as it seems.

Say what you want about Tom Cruise, but this is the sort of part he was born to play. Cruise is the kind of actor who gives off so much intensity and restless energy that it's not hard to buy him as a guy who can't simply accept his orders and not question the truth behind his assigned tasks. Cruise puts his all into this role, and never seems to be phoning it in for a second. At this point in his career (or at any point, really) Cruise probably couldn't get away with playing an ordinary Joe. But Cruise does pull off the part of the man of destiny - the exceptional Chosen One seemingly guided by fate towards the role of hero. There's almost a film noir-like aspect to the film, and to Jack. A man trapped by circumstances beyond his control, a pawn in larger game. To this end, I found myself fully onboard as we - alongside Jack - begin to question what's really going on.

The rest of the cast is uniformly quite good. I wasn't familiar with Andrea Riseborough before this film, but I thought she was excellent as Victoria. The entire film is colored by a creeping sense of dread, a sense that something is off - that beneath a character like Victoria's facade of preternatural calm, there lay some sort of deep existential torment. Riseborough really conveys that and sells it. She's a by-the-book company woman on one hand, but there is also something about her that's slightly unhinged. And as more is revealed about her, we see why, exactly, that is.

A little more problematic is Olga Kurylenko's character, Julia. Julia's identity is a quasi-mystery for much of the film, but I felt Kurylenko plays things a little too sedately and soberly. Her character's entire world has been turned on its head, but that isn't 100% conveyed in the script or through her performance. I really like Kurylenko overall though - she has an old-school beauty and screen presence that most other actresses of her generation do not. I just think there is something slightly off about Julia as portrayed in the film. Otherwise, Morgan Freeman has a brief but important role in the film, and it's one of those roles that may not have been all that memorable if not played by the titan that is Freeman. We have such a built-in attachment to the actor that the movie can use a lot of shorthand with his character. It might have been interesting to get a little more backstory on his character, but Freeman gets some nice moments nonetheless. I'll also give a special shoutout to Melissa Leo, who plays Jack's commander, Sally, and who only appears via grainy video transmissions. Leo does a bang-up job here - striking the perfect tone of so-friendly-she's-actually-creepy menace.

Now, visually, OBLIVION is pure eye-candy. For one thing, this is an incredibly-realized sci-fi world. You can see the effort that went into designing the movie's buildings, vehicles, drones, and costumes. You see a little of stuff like Star Wars and Mass Effect in the designs, sure. And yes, the overall aesthetic has a lot of homages to 70's and 80's sci-fi in general (a lot of white, a lot of stuff that wouldn't have felt out of place in Tomorrowland at DisneyWorld circa 1987). But I still think that the movie feels unique, and just meticulously thought-out from a design perspective - and how often can one say that about sci-fi these days? But what makes Kosinski stand out for me is not just his world-building, but how he captures these really amazing images from inside those worlds. He doesn't just zoom around, he hovers and idylls and lets you absorb certain scenes in a very old-school fashion. Today, some might call this slow-pacing. But to me, the more measured and methodical pacing is perfect for this sort of movie - in the same way that classics like Blade Runner let you linger in the world and soak in the atmosphere. Kosinski's style also helps emphasize the size and scope of the film - there's a sense of awe and wonder here that you just don't get from the likes of a Michael Bay. With all that said, Oblivion still delivers a couple of fairly breathtaking action scenes, including a rip-roaring aerial chase scene that is a major highlight. In any case, I'm now even more a fan of Kosinski's capabilities, and I'm excited to see what he tackles next.

And by the way, I've got to mention the soundtrack from French techno outfit M.8.3. It's awesome. Moody digital beats and ominous synthetic grooves create perhaps the most memorable sci-fi soundtrack since Daft Punk amped up Kosinski's last film, Tron Legacy, with their future-shock sounds.

Where Oblivion falters just a bit is in the way the story is paced. The movie's major revelations are all back-loaded in its final act. This makes for a pretty riveting final act, but it also means that the middle can get pretty draggy. What's more, because the movie keeps so many of its plot points close to the vest for so long, that means that, in the end, characters like the one played by Freeman feel slightly undercooked. On the flipside, I think in retrospect that a few of the major twists were perhaps telegraphed a little *too* early. For example, very early on in the film, we find out that the memories of Jack and Victoria have been majorly messed with. If we hadn't known that right off the bat, later revelations might have been a bit more shocking.

This is also a movie that people are going to pick apart, plot-wise, until the end of time. I don't think the unanswered questions are that big of a deal though, for the most part. The movie paints in broad strokes, and doesn't get into a lot of uber-specifics. A lot is left to the imagination or individual interpretation, and I'm okay with that. Again, I see it as a bit of a throwback to the days of Blade Runner - where part of the appeal is that we get to fill in many of the blanks as we see fit.

Overall, I felt like the film did a commendable job of keeping up that Twilight Zone-ish "what the hell is going on here?" sort of tension for most of its running time. And I also felt like the final-act payoff was well worth the wait - a thrilling and epic climax that I found to be fairly jaw-dropping. That climax is ever so slightly undermined by a coda that's a little bit "meh" in comparison. But man, the movie's last twenty minutes or so had me on the edge of my seat.

For those who enjoy classic, mind-bending science fiction, Oblivion is a unique and welcome throwback of sorts to 70's and 80's genre films that were as much about igniting your imagination as they were about getting your adrenaline pumping. Oblivion has its share of fun action scenes, but I really admire the way it presented us with this strange, gorgeously-realized future world scenario, and slowly but surely peeled back its layers to get at the terrible truth at its core. I want more movies like this one.

My Grade: B+

JACK REACHER Is Retro Action Movie Comfort Food

JACK REACHER Review:

- Jack Reacher is one of the most by-the-numbers, predictable action flicks I've seen in a long while. But there's also an undeniable comfort-food aspect to the film, and several moments of over-the-top coolness. What's so strange is that the movie feels like it came out of a time-warp from some long-ago land of Hollywood crime capers. It's definitely a throwback, coming off as a mash-up of everything from Bullit, to Dirty Harry, to Rambo, to 90's procedural thrillers like Kiss the Girls. And Jack, as a character, is sort of a mash-up of all those action-movie archtypes - he's got the smoothness of Bullit, the mean streak of Dirty Harry, and he's an ex-military lone-wolf drifter like John Rambo. So JACK REACHER comes off as feeling a bit bland at times, except that it's got just enough badassery to make it perfect for a rainy afternoon. What I'm saying is - prepare to catch this one on TNT many, many times in the years to come.

Now, one weird thing about JACK REACHER is that the title character, from the books, is supposed to be this big, burly, grizzled badass who stays off the grid and answers to no one. Essentially, this would have been the perfect vehicle for an 80's or 90's-era Kurt Russell. But instead, we get the 50-ish but still lean and boyish Tom Cruise in the part, and it makes for an odd contrast with the material. So much of the dialogue, as written for the screen by writer/director Christopher McQuarrie ... you can hear how it would sound pretty badass if delivered in a Snake Plissken-esque growl. But from the mouth of Cruise, a lot of it lacks much bite. So some of the lines that might otherwise have been grimly funny end up falling a bit flat. The funny thing is that lead actress Rosamund Pike, playing a crusading lawyer, seems to be in full Lifetime Original Movie mode - delivering all of her lines in a breathy manner, bosoms heaving under low-cut tops, seemingly waiting for Reacher to reach over and give er' the jack (sorry, had to say it). All that's needed to complete the old-school action-movie throwback is to have her and Reacher engage in some tastefully silhouetted carnal coupling (alas, McQuarrie shows some restraint there).

But back to Cruise, he's good, and as always, seems to put 110% into the role - but you also wonder if this could have been better with a more grizzled sort of leading man in the role - someone who could make it their own, and make Reacher the action icon that McQuarrie and co. want him to be. Instead, we seem to be watching Cruise as Cruise. And that means that the movie sometimes has an odd effect of making it seem like we're watching a movie less about Jack Reacher, and more about Tom Cruise being the smartest, quickest, baddest dude on the planet. So I feel like Jack Reacher maybe has some potential to be a cool, iconic character. But the way this movie works ... they probably could have held off on calling it Jack Reacher, and just called it TOM CRUISE: THE MOVIE.

The thing is, Tom Cruise does a good Tom Cruise, and even though he doesn't really feel like Jack Reacher, per se, he's still entertaining. And ... he's surrounded by a top-of-the-line supporting cast, all of whom (like Pike, who I spoke of earlier) seem to be having fun going old-school and very much embracing the cheesy nature of the film, while never really winking at the audience. I mean, Richard Jenkins - he seems to be everywhere lately - is quite good as Pike's shift-seeming father, who happens to be the District Attorney. Also good is David Oyelowo, as the lead police officer on the case that Reacher is working. There's also a strong performance from Michael Raymond-James (whoo! - TERRIERS shout-out!) as a lieutenant of the lead bad guy, and from Jai Courtney as his main muscle.

Speaking of the lead bad guy, holy crap. WERNER HERZOG is the Big Bad in this movie, and he infuses this otherwise straightforward flick with a heaping helping of crazysauce. He is awesome. If only he had even more screen time ... although I also suspect that Herzog might be most effective in small doses. Every time he says something awesome - like his story about having to cut off his own fingers to survive imprisonment in a Siberian prison ... he leaves you wanting more.

Also ... Robert Duvall enters the picture about three-quarters of the way through the movie, and he, also, is pretty awesome. As anyone who reads my movie reviews knows, I am a sucker for movies in which an old guy gets to kick ass one last time. And this movie has such moments for the great Duvall, and basically gives the legendary actor a perfect role in the film where he can come in, be badass, and get in some great little lines laced with the wisdom of a man who's done and seen it all.

Like I said, there's a real comfort-food quality to the movie. There's something to be said for the simple pleasures of an action movie with no CGI, with a measured slow-burn pace, with no rapid-fire cuts or editing, and with twists that are predictable, but still sort of satisfying in their predictability. This is a total "movie" movie, the kind where you'll yell things like "oh, I bet *he's* the inside-man!" to your friends whole watching, and you'll probably be right. The plot is a twisty but pretty straightforward yarn, about an old army associate of Jack's who's been accused of carrying out a mass sniper-rifle killing spree. Jack hears about the case and decides to investigate, and as it turns out there's a lot more to the crime than meets-the-eye. Eventually, he's hired on by the lawyer representing the accused sniper as an investigator, and goes about uncovering the truth behind the killings. As for Jack, the movie spends a lot of time mythologizing him - he's a drifter with no car and no real record. He buys clothes at goodwill and takes the Greyhound bus system, riding across America. He answers to no one. He's a killer when he needs to be, but he's got his own code of justice.

JACK REACHER stumbles in a number of scenes - with a lot of clunkiness and cheesiness. It's overlong, and takes its sweet time in arriving at its admittedly exciting finale. But the movie's also got enough badassery - some solid action, great turns from Herzog and Duvall - to make this worth checking out. Not a movie-of-the-year candidate, but a fun little retro dip into old-school action movie familiarity. Like I said, the perfect movie for a rainy afternoon on the couch.

My Grade: B