Unique visuals distinguish otherwise bland ‘Oblivion’

According to Hollywood, this summer’s movie season has begun in April. The recent sci-fi release “Oblivion” has all the trappings of a summer movie: high-concept premise, a VFX budget equivalent to the GDP of a small island nation, the required action-heavy third -act explosions and Tom Cruise. In fact, “Oblivion” was supposed to be released during the actual summer this year — July — but got its release date bumped back to April, a move that is becoming increasingly popular with trigger-happy studios looking to release blockbusters earlier and earlier. Take, for example, next year’s release of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” which is set to debut at the beginning of April.

“Oblivion” is set in the year 2077, 60 years after an alien invasion that made Earth uninhabitable. The devastation is partially thanks to the upheaval that was caused when the invaders nearly destroyed the moon. In this invasion, humans were able to triumph over the Scavengers (or “Scavs”), but at the cost of using nuclear weapons that made Earth unfit for human life. The surviving humans moved to a colony on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, and the remaining few are aboard a massive space station called the Tet, which is in Earth’s orbit waiting to leave. This premise is set up via narration, rather than through a visual display, which seems a bit like a missed opportunity.

This brings us to Tom Cruise, who plays Jack Harper, one of the remaining humans stationed on Earth. Jack (aka “Tech 49”) is essentially part of the clean-up crew left on Earth, maintaining and repairing drones that protect resource extraction machines, which are collecting the remaining resources left on the planet for use on Titan. He is stationed in the area that used to be New York City working with his partner/lover Victoria (Andrea Riseborough). The plot of “Oblivion” unfolds relatively slowly throughout the film, with plot twists increasing as the story progresses. Some of these twists are genuinely surprising, but plenty of them are not — you knew that billboard-sharing Morgan Freeman had to pop up somewhere in the movie, right?

Certain aspects of the film’s third act are frustratingly vague and open to plot holes that could have been avoided if the script had spent a bit more time wrapping up loose ends. Another aspect of the script that could have benefited from some work is the character development, because other than Jack — and even his character isn’t flawless — none of the other principal characters develop beyond the plot purposes they serve. The cast does the best with what they have, and Tom Cruise turns in an energetic performance as Jack, although his character is far from original.

Even though the plot may leave something to be desired, the visuals of space “Oblivion” are where director Joseph Kosinski knocks it out of the park. The film is aesthetically stunning, presenting a fascinating look at a post-nuclear holocaust New York City. Jack investigates a fallen drone among the hollowed-out shell of Yankee Stadium, explores an Empire State Building reduced to just its top spire and cruises past other glimpses of a previous life. The world of “Oblivion” truly feels like the smoking ruins of a once-great planet, and this is counterbalanced by Kosinski’s otherwise sleek-looking presentation of future technology and equipment.

When watching “Oblivion,” it’s impossible to escape the sense that you’ve seen much of the film before in other sci-fi films. And while borrowing elements of other films certainly isn’t a crime, it doesn’t help that “Oblivion” isn’t bringing too many new things to the table. Throughout the movie, viewers get glimpses of themes and elements of films like “The Matrix” (1999) and “Independence Day” (1996). Arguing that Tom Cruise plays a talking version of WALL-E actually reveals an alarming amount of the film.

So, in the end, “Oblivion” is worth a view if you’re interested in the genre. While there isn’t much that the film does extremely well, there also isn’t much that’s truly wrong with it. So while “Oblivion” may not be the high-octane summer kick-off some may have been hoping for — that honor looks like it will go to next week’s “Iron Man 3” — in the end, it’s a relatively enjoyable movie that unfortunately can’t quite move beyond its intriguing set-up.