Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Oblivion


About one hour into the new science fiction film, Oblivion, a scene takes place that represents much of what I hate about Hollywood blockbusters. To be clear up front: this isn’t a fault of the film itself, but rather the system dictating it.

Oblivion opens with an extended bit of narration by Tom Cruise’s character, Jack. Jack explains how Earth’s moon was destroyed several years ago. How nature took over and destroyed much of the planet before aliens invaded. There was a war. We won, but Earth remains a barren wasteland. Everyone has been shipped to live on one of Saturn’s moons, while giant machines absorb the remainder of Earth’s water. Jack’s job is to protect the drones that protect the water suction apparatuses from the aliens trying to destroy them.

It’s a lot to take in, but director Joseph Kosinski does a fine job impressing us with spectacular visuals while Cruise narrates ceaselessly.

So here’s my problem.
An hour into the film, Jack discovers and saves human astronaut, Julia (Olga Kurylenko). Moments later, Jack and his partner (both in mission and sex), Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) sit Julia down and tell her what’s going on. And what that entails is a damn near word for word rehashing of the laborious monologue Cruise delivered at the start of the film. No, I didn’t have a script handy to check if the two speeches were verbatim, but to the best of my knowledge, they were damn close.

I take issue with the fact that either Kosinski or (most likely) Universal, the studio responsible for the film, assumes audiences are that dumb. Or forgetful. Or slow. Do we really need to hear the same bit of extended, expository, plot-driven dialogue twice? Within an hour? Do we really? God forbid an action blockbuster like Oblivion omits an introductory monologue and instead asks us to follow the characters around for a little while and play an intriguing game of catch up. Just imagine that. Imagine if this information was only delivered once, when Jack and Victoria tell Julia what has happened. Imagine if we spent the first hour of the film wondering the purpose of Jack and Victoria’s mission. If done right, that could be damn effective.

But, again, this isn’t a fault of Oblivion (which, I suppose, is a decently entertaining summer action sci-fi flick), it’s only a personal qualm with the cookie cutter mold of the Hollywood system. I knew damn well what to expect from this movie – I wasn’t let down and I wasn’t built up, but rather, reinstated with what I already assumed.
Anthony Gonzalez (second from left)

In the months leading up to this Oblivion’s release, I’ve been vocal about my enthusiasm for M83’s original score for the film. M83 is my favorite band, their music inspires me as much as many of my favorite films. Frontrunner Anthony Gonzalez moved to L.A. a few years ago to take a run at the movie business, and Oblivion was his first major gig. A few weeks ago, the entire soundtrack was made available to legally stream online. About three tracks in, I knew what had happened. I knew Universal had dumbed down Gonzalez’s cinematic, epic, unique sound. I had no way to prove this, aside from the fact that the Oblivion score sounded like most any Hollywood movie score, which is to say, nothing like an M83 album. (For the record, the film’s single M83esque track, “StarWaves,” is laughably misused in a standard, silly PG-13 friendly sex scene.)

One week ago, my theories were confirmed when Gonzalez told Pitchfork exactly what I just told you. He said he submitted a handful of tracks, and Universal responded by saying they were “too indie.” Gonzalez spent the next year (scores typically take two to three months to create) drafting a generic score that could’ve been done by someone, quite frankly, more qualified than him. The result is more than 100 minutes of original score that is satisfying to the genre, but not much else. This is a damn shame. In my opinion, Universal had the opportunity to create something really different here. Something with balls, heart and intrigue. But I suppose that does sound a little too indie. C

24 comments:

  1. Wow, this sounds like a bummer. What's Nikolaj Coster-Waldau role in this? He's the only reason I would consider watching, and last time I did that with a NCW film he was barely in it. (Mama)

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    1. Yeah, it wasn't good and it wasn't bad. It just kind of was.

      Hard to talk about Coster-Waldau's role without giving too much away. If you've seen the previews, basically Coster-Waldau rolls with Morgan Freeman's crew. He has about 3 lines and is on screen for roughly 5 minutes.

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    2. 5 minutes? Damn, I'll skip this. That's not enough screen time for me. lol

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    3. Yeah, I knew fans of his would be upset. Def not a lot of screentime.

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    4. 5 minutes?! and they butchered M83 score too? Oh, hell no, not seeing it in theaters.

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    5. Yep and yep. Definitely skip it.

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  2. the script, and direction, really could have used an overhaul. there were some good moments, but too many sloppy ones in between. real shame. the intention is there, but i think the story got away from them. riseborough was great

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    1. I agree, an overhaul would've lent itself well to the final film. Definitely a well intended movie... but I gave up caring about an hour in.

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  3. I sort of figured this would turn out to be an average film. I had heard that the first half or so was actually pretty good and then just turned into another Cruise action movie. I still want to see it because of the visuals, but I can't say I have high hopes. Hopefully films like Elysium, The Zero Theorem, Pacific Rim, Her, and Gravity will live up to the hype.

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    1. I really didn't mind the first act at all, but it must be said that during that first act, nothing plot-driven happens. I love story, but this being an action blockbuster, plot is going to take over at some point.

      I really hope those films you listed live up to the hype as well.

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  4. My biggest beef with Oblivion was Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise. I even kind of enjoyed all the blatant ripoff...er, homages to other sci-fi films of the past, but the lazy writing, meh dialogue and Tom Cruise playing a caricature of his former self is what put me off the most. You're right about the score also. The music had me rolling my eyes more than Tom Cruise's colored hair did.

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    1. Yep, I agree - Cruise was cashing in on Cruise here. (Side note: why does the dude bother to scream in movies? He has the most unconvincing scream ever.)

      The homages got straight silly at some point. I'm not even a fan of the genre, but they were wildly obvious.

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  5. Everything that this movie tried to be, wasn't anything new or original. It was crap that I've been seeing for the longest time, in every other sci-fi movie that's ever been released. The movie is beautiful, but like most of the women I date: looks can only go so far. Nice review Alex.

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    1. Ha, loved your analogy.

      I'm really not a big fan of the sci-fi genre, so for a person like me to notice so many rip-offs in Oblivion, well, that doesn't speak too highly for the film. It seems like most every contemporary science fiction film nabs from 2001. I mean... are there no new notions left? Come on now.

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  6. I have no plans to see this as I'm just not interested in seeing another film w/ Tom Cruise playing the hero... again.

    I do however have the M83 deluxe soundtrack which is pretty good though a bit repetitive. I don't think M83 and mainstream films should mix. You know how to use their music based on your short and I'm sure as hell know how to use their music as well if I was making a film.

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    1. Damn man, that might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me. To say I used M83's music in an effective way is just... wow. Thanks for that.

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  7. Fine review Alex. The more I read about this the more I'm being put off. Looks like a bit of bubble-gum entertainment.

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    1. Thanks man! Bubble-gum entertainment... that's a fine way to put it.

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  8. Yeah I loved this movie visually but the story was weak as hell. I'm so with you on the exposition. I rolled my eyes with the super long back story Cruise gives us in the beginning. Would have been so much better if we were left in the dark. At least don't explain the whole thing all over again. It would have been even cooler to have us in the dark and wondering why Olga started chuckling when Victoria & Jack gave her the run down of their version of things.

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    1. Yep, we're totally on point here. Like I said, how terrible would it be for a blockbuster to actually challenged us and asked us to, you know, infer?

      (sigh) Oh well. The way it goes.

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  9. Just saw this last night. Nothing groundbreaking, but it's not terrible.

    I was wondering what happened with the score. A lot of it reminded me of the music from Tron: Legacy and The Dark Knight Rises. No wonder. I wish they'd release the original tracks.

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    1. I agree: not good and not bad, just not much of anything.

      My god, I'd pay good money for those original tracks. Real money.

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  10. Absolutely no intention of seeing this. Listened to a couple of tracks from the score and liked them, but more than anything I'd just like to see Anthony back in the studio with full creative control.

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    1. Yeah, I can think of no reason for someone to spend time seeing this. I really hope this project didn't dishearten Anthony from doing more film scores. His music is perfect for movies, just not for lame studio execs.

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