OBLIVION Short review

Bubble machine http://conceptartworld.com/?p=21236

I saw Oblivion (Joseph Kosinski, 2013)  today and whilst it drew some of its themes - cloned humans & machine futures from sci-fi and horror genre, it didn't have the usual run of monsters and aliens and instead drew the audience into the realm of dream and remembrance, rather than the visceral. I loved it & particularly enjoyed the reference to the Empire State Building, though couldn't help but think of both A Love Affair to Remember (1957) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and I suppose that the audience was invited to make this association, because Oblivion has at is base a love affair or rather, the memory of one. I enjoyed hearing Procul Harum's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' & all things retro shown in various film sequences that take us, as well as the primary protagonist Jack Harper (Tom Cruise)  back to the way the world was before the apocalyptic destruction of Earth's Moon by scavengers. The film is set in the year 2077 and for much of the film's running time we see only a few actors - Jack Harper, Victoria (Andrea Risborough), Jack's communication officer, and Sally (Melissa Leo) Jack and Sally's mission controller. Around midway the other players are introduced. The CGI in this film was absolutely fantastic and the drones were convincingly sinister & dangerous to all things human. If the plot was a bit thin it was certainly balanced by the fact that this is a great action movie. The scenes in which Jack fights off the drones in his amazing flying, bubble machine and his fast maneuvers through various buildings and terrain reminded me a lot of Luke's adventures in Star Wars, but mostly the scenes appeared typical of the action shots in video games. Overall, I was impressed by the machines in this film, so elegant and yet so deadly. Daniel Simon, the designer of the bubble flyer and drones made this film look so futuristic.However, what held the movie together for me was the somewhat quirky and interesting sound track from French band M83.