Oblivion (2013 Film)

''Oblivion'' is a 2013 American post-apocalyptic action-adventure film produced and directed by Joseph Kosinski with screenplay by Karl Gajdusek and Michael deBruyn, starring Tom Cruise in the main role alongside Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Melissa Leo in supporting roles. Based on Kosinski's unpublished graphic novel of the same name, the film pays homage to 1970s sci-fi, and is a love story set in 2077 on an Earth desolated by war; a maintenance technician rescues a woman from a spaceship crash and regrets his mission against the people who survived an alien threat.

''Oblivion'' was released in theaters premiered in Buenos Aires on March 26, 2013, and was released in theaters by Universal Pictures on April 19. The film grossed $286 million worldwide on a production budget of $120 million.

Plot

Jack Harper and Victoria Olsen are the last humans left on Earth in March, 2077. In 2017, scavenger aliens decimated the Moon and invaded Earth; although humans won the war, the use of nuclear weapons rendered the Earth uninhabitable. With Victoria as his communications officer, Jack repairs combat drones that hunt the remaining scavengers and guard the hydrothermal rigs that convert seawater into fusion energy. The duo reports to Sally, the mission commander available during daytime aboard the " Tet," a space station orbiting Earth once a day. Within two weeks, the group will be departing for Saturn's moon, Titan, to join surviving human colonists there. Though Jack and Victoria's memories have been wiped, Jack experiences dreams and glimpses of a pre-war life with an unknown woman with long, dark hair, again and again.

Sally informs them that the day's duty is to fix drone #166 and find drone #172. The drones are powered by fuel cells. Sally complains that the duo has already lost nine fuel cells in the last five years. Jack fixes drone 166 but believes drone 172 is in some underground ruins near a black sand desert or what was once the bottom of the sea. The waters of the oceans have already dropped more than a kilometer. He escapes a scavenger trap while searching for the disabled drone inside the New York Public Library's ruins. The next day, a hydrothermal platform is destroyed by that fuel cell, weaponized into a nuclear bomb. The scavengers are also radioing coordinates from the Empire State Building's antenna and ends the transmission to outer space. Jack then visits a secret area that can sustain vegetation and has a crater that was filled with potable water, forming a lake with fish. He took advantage of the shores of the lake to build a lakeside cabin based on memories of his lost love. The cabin he built is filled with mementos of Earth's past.

An unidentified object falls from the sky to the transmitted coordinates. Jack investigates the crash site and finds five humans in delta-sleep pods, including the woman in his dreams. A drone destroys four pods, but Jack saves the woman and takes her to his and Victoria's aerial base. The woman revives and says she is Julia Rusakova, a NASA astronaut who has been in-stasis aboard the Odyssey spaceship since 2017.

Jack and Julia return to the crash to retrieve the Odyssey's flight recorder, but scavengers capture and take them to the Raven Rock Mountain Complex. The leader, Malcolm Beech, reveals that the scavengers are disguised human survivors hiding from the drones. After deciphering the operation of GPS codes, the survivors had to bring down the Odyssey spaceship to obtain its nuclear reactor, which is suitable for interplanetary travel. They are trying to reprogram drone 172, but without success, since it is controlled by an alien artificial intelligence: the Tet. Malcolm asks for help programming the drone, but Jack refuses. A sergeant named Sykes threatens to kill Julia if Jack doesn't cooperate. Malcolm frees Jack and Julia into the desert area that Jack knows as the deadly Radiation Zone so that they can discover the truth for themselves. Julia reveals that she is Jack's wife, which triggers his memory of proposing to her at the Empire State Building. She was on their first cosmic mission: a trip to the moon Titan with the crew of the Odyssey, commanded by Jack and his co-pilot, Victoria. Six weeks before reaching their destination, the mission was reassigned to investigate an alien object. Everyone was put into a deep sleep until the approach to the object, but NASA specialists only woke Jack and Victoria to command the spacecraft and start the first studies.

Victoria sends an aircraft to retrieve Jack and Julia. She is heartbroken at seeing their closeness and reports to Sally that she and Jack are no longer, "an effective team." Sally dispatches a drone that kills Victoria. Jack and Julia flee in the jet and destroy drone 166 chasing them before crashing in the desert. Nearby, a clone of Jack arrives to fix disabled drones. Jack incapacitates him, but Julia is shot during their fight. Jack impersonates the clone to return to its base for medical supplies; there, he encounters and misleads a clone of Victoria. Jack then takes Julia to his secret cabin, where she recovers and the couple re-consummate their marriage. She tells him that the cabin resembles the one he built for them in 2017. The two listen to the A Whiter Shade of Pale song and spend the night together.

The next morning, they return to Raven Rock, intending to return to the cabin once the war ends. Malcolm explains the Tet further. The alien ship was engineered to extract Earth's natural resources and decimated the Moon, causing planet-wide catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis, then invaded with an army of Jack clones. The escape to Titan and humanity's victory are fictional. Jack reprograms the captured drone 172 to sabotage the Tet with the bomb created from the scavenged fuel cells and the Odyssey's reactor, but other drones attack the base. Julia and the survivors flee to the archives room, where humanity has preserved as much as it can, including artworks. However, a drone corners them and triggers a laser sight to kill everyone, but Sykes appears from behind and saves the lives of Julia and the population. Malcolm is gravely injured and the captured drone is damaged beyond repair. Jack and Julia volunteer to deliver the bomb to the Tet manually. They admire the painting of Christina's World (1948) in the archives room, say goodbye with a kiss filled with a lifetime of missed kisses and Julia climbs into a pod.

En route to the Tet, Jack understands the truth from the Odyssey's flight recorder. He was cloned from the NASA mission commander, Jack Harper, who was on a mission to explore Titan. Victoria was his co-pilot, Julia was the newest crew member and Sally was the Earth mission director. Upon approaching the Tet, it became apparent that the Tet was drawing the Odyssey towards it. Jack realized the danger and their inability to get out of the Tet's pull; Jack separated the control capsule from the sleep module to save the crew members in their stasis pods. He and Victoria were captured and cloned. In a peaceful moment, when the Odyssey was approaching the Tet before they realized they were in danger or drawn to being captured, Victoria took a portrait of Jack and her in the cockpit; inadvertently, the image reflected the image as if they were a couple. The moment also shows that Victoria has some hidden feelings for Jack, and the Tet misinterpreted the image and hidden intimate feelings of Victoria for Jack. The Tet, believing they were a romantic couple, programmed that to the clone's new memories after their old memories were erased. However, this relationship required a monitoring as the dreams of Julia and the affinity with Earth had directed Jack to the desire for a future different from Victoria's.

The Tet's audio projection of Sally confronts Jack, who enters the Tet and discovers thousands of clones of him and Victoria in stasis. Jack offers Julia to Sally, but Malcolm emerges from the pod as planned. The two detonate the bomb, destroying the Tet and themselves. Meanwhile, Julia awakens in her pod by the cabin and is surprised to see the pastoral painting in an envelope with her. She witnessed Jack's sacrifice for her, the scavengers and the planet just as the explosion was seen in the sky.

Three years after the explosion, Julia and the daughter she had with Jack are living at the cabin, where the canvas is framed. One day, surviving resistance members arrive as they were guided by the clone that Jack had previously subdued in the desert. The clone, with his sublime love for Julia, arrives for his family and has also recovered the original Jack's memories.

Cast

* Tom Cruise as Jack Harper, Tech 49: a technician who works to repair drones on Earth and questions his mission. Originally, he was the American commander of a mission en route to Titan who was captured by the Tet and cloned to fight humanity. Cruise also plays Jack Harper, Tech 52, a clone who initially remains loyal to the Tet.
* Morgan Freeman as Malcolm Beech: an American veteran soldier and leader of a large community of scavengers, the human survivors of the alien Tet's attacks.
* Olga Kurylenko as Julia Rusakova Harper: Jack's wife and a Russian crew member on the ''Odyssey'', who was sent back towards Earth by her husband to protect her from the initial contact with the Tet.
* Andrea Riseborough as Victoria "Vika" Olsen: Jack's communications partner and housemate. Originally, she was the British co-pilot of Jack's mission to Titan who was captured and cloned to assist in the Tet's war on humanity. Riseborough also plays a clone of Vika who Jack misleads to obtain medical supplies.
* Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Sergeant Sykes: the main military commander of Beech's community of scavengers who is skeptical of Jack at first.
* Melissa Leo as the Tet and Sally: an alien artificial intelligence seeking to acquire Earth's natural resources and wipe out humanity. Sally was the mission director of Jack and Julia's mission to Titan; her likeness was copied by the Tet to serve as its visual and auditory representation.
* Zoë Bell as Kara: a soldier and member of the scavengers.

Production

Development

Joseph Kosinski wanted to film a cinematic adaptation of the graphic novel ''Oblivion'', which he started to co-write with Arvid Nelson for Radical Comics. The novel was never finished; Kosinski said it was "just a stage in the project f film development. He said that "partnership with Radical Comics allowed me to continue working on the story by developing a series of images and continuing to refine the story more over a period of years. Then I basically used all that development as a pitch kit to the studio. So even though we really never released it as an illustrated novel the story is being told as a film, which was always the intention."

Walt Disney Pictures, which produced Kosinski's previous film '' Tron: Legacy'' (2010), acquired the ''Oblivion'' film adaptation rights from Radical Comics and Kosinski after a heated auction in August 2010. The film was a directing vehicle for Kosinski, with Barry Levine producing, and Jesse Berger executive producing. Other studios that made bids on the film were Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Universal Pictures. Disney subsequently released the rights after realizing the PG-rated film they envisioned, in line with their family-oriented reputation, would require too many story changes. Universal, which had also bid for the original rights, then bought them from Kosinski and Radical and authorized a PG-13 film version.

The film's script was originally written by Kosinski and William Monahan and underwent a first rewrite by Karl Gajdusek. When the film passed into Universal's hands, a final rewrite was done by Michael Arndt, under the pen name "Michael deBruyn". Universal was particularly appreciative of the script, saying, "It's one of the most beautiful scripts we've ever come across."

The Bubble Ship operated by Cruise's main character, Jack 49, was inspired by the Bell 47 helicopter (often colloquially referred to as a "bubble cockpit" helicopter), a utilitarian 1947 vehicle with a transparent round canopy that Kosinski saw in the lobby of the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, and which he likened to a dragonfly. Daniel Simon, who previously worked with Kosinski as the lead vehicle designer on ''Tron: Legacy'', was tasked with creating the Bubble Ship from this basis, incorporating elements evocative of an advanced fighter jet with the Bell 47 to create a light, functional vehicle that was both practical and aesthetically pleasing, much as he observed with the ships in Stanley Kubrick's '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968).

"When Kubrick made ''2001'', rather than going to the hotshot concept designers of the day, he hired NASA engineers", said Simon. "I believe in form follows function. I'm not a fan of excessive decoration, of putting fins on something because it looks cool". Rather than employ digital models, Wild Factory, a Camarillo concept car company, built the Bubble Ship as a , , mostly aluminum prop. Elements of the cockpit, such as the placement of the joystick and pedals, were customized for Cruise, who is a qualified pilot, and who had some input into the design. The craft was also made to be easy to disassemble and assemble, to facilitate transport to Iceland shooting locations, where it would be mounted on a gimbal for shots of it flying. The unmanned aerial drones that were featured prominently in the plot were created to appear to be in the same design family as the Bubble Ship.Keegan, Rebecca. "'Oblivion' Cruise-Mobile". ''HeroComplex.com''. ''Los Angeles Times''. Spring 2013. pp. 8 - 9.

Casting

Tom Cruise had expressed interest in the film for a long time, and officially committed to it on May 20, 2011.

For casting the lead role of Julia opposite Cruise, the producers considered five actresses: Jessica Chastain, Olivia Wilde, Brit Marling, Noomi Rapace and Olga Kurylenko, and all five auditioned on August 27, 2011. On September 26, 2011, it was announced that Chastain had been cast. Chastain was subsequently offered the lead role in the Kathryn Bigelow film ''Zero Dark Thirty'' (2012) and Cruise let her be released from her contract for ''Oblivion'' to make the other film, for which Chastain has publicly thanked Cruise. The role was later recast with Kurylenko.

In preparation for the role, Kurylenko watched astronaut training videos as well as classic science fiction and romance films, such as ''Solaris'' (1972), '' Notorious'' (1946), and ''Casablanca'' (1942. "What's funny is I actually watched ''Solaris''; Joseph never brought it up", said Kurylenko. "I come from Tarkovsky-land, and at that point I hadn't watched it for many years. I watched the new one as well, with George Clooney and Natascha McElhone. The story – both in ''Solaris'' and ''Oblivion'' – deals with space and memory."

For the other leading role, Victoria, the producers initially considered Hayley Atwell, Diane Kruger and Kate Beckinsale. The three actresses traveled to Pittsburgh to screen-test with Cruise, who was filming ''Jack Reacher'' (2012). The role finally went to Andrea Riseborough. Melissa Leo was cast at a later date as Sally.

Filming

Production began on March 12, 2012, and concluded on July 14, 2012. Filming locations included Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. Out of approximately three months of shooting, 69 days were shot in Louisiana, from March through May 2012, 11 days were shot in New York in June 2012, a few in Mammoth in California in June 2012, and 10 days were filmed in Iceland in June 2012, when the daylight lasts for nearly 24 hours a day. As well as showcasing Iceland's volcanic landscapes, the film's director Joseph Kosinski sought to take advantage of the round-the-clock light, in particular the 6pm to 1am waning light known as " magic hour", to "bring sci-fi out into the daylight", in contrast with films such as ''Alien'', which spent their time in dark hulls or benighted planets.

The single most difficult scene to film was when Harper takes a break to admire the view and waters a flower. It was filmed by having Cruise sit next to an drop at the top of Iceland's Jarlhettur on the root of Langjökull, which is accessible only by helicopter. The scenes set at Harper's idyllic forest retreat were filmed at Black's Pond in June Lake, California.

''Oblivion'' was filmed with Sony's CineAlta F65 camera, which was shipped in January 2012. A Red Epic was also used for scenes that required going handheld or when body mount rigging was applied. The film was shot in 4K resolution in Sony's proprietary raw image format, but for cost reasons (and over Kosinski's protests), both the digital intermediate and final version were done at 2K resolution.Jon Fauer

span> "Claudio Miranda, ASC on 'Oblivion, ''Jon Fauer's Film and Digital Times'', March 29, 2013.

For the Sky Tower set (built on a soundstage in Baton Rouge), Kosinski and cinematographer Claudio Miranda worked closely with visual special-effects house Pixomondo to establish both environment and lighting by the use of 21 front-screen projectors aimed at a huge wraparound backdrop to form one continuous image, rather than blue screen backdrops.Vincent Frei
"OBLIVION: Bjørn Mayer – VFX Supervisor – Pixomondo"
, ''Art of VFX'', April 16, 2013. The backdrop consisted of a single seamless piece of painted white muslin, , which was wrapped around the set for 270-degree coverage. This enabled the full environment to be captured in camera, and assisted in lighting up to 90 percent of the set.

Had blue screen been used on the "glass house" Sky Tower, the glass would have disappeared into the blue lighting, and would have had to be reproduced digitally in post-production. The actors enjoyed working in the environment, as they could look outside and actually see the sunrise or sunset imagery. This new technique allowed them to cut down on both the effects shots, which ended up at around 800 in total, and the expenses. Even the "control table" which Victoria operates was filmed then displayed on a large screen.

To obtain the necessary footage to create the illusion that the Sky Tower set was sitting high above the clouds, Pixomondo sent a crew to film the view from the peak of Haleakalā in Hawaii for four days with three Red Epic cameras mounted side by side on a single rig. Pixomondo's Stuttgart office then stitched together the data from the three cameras to form a single gigantic video stream (with each still image consisting of 26 megapixels) and produced a variety of different time-of-day clips to be projected on the set.

Music

On June 28, 2012, it was announced that French electronic band M83 would compose the soundtrack for ''Oblivion''. On why he chose M83 to score the film, director Joseph Kosinski said, "I went back and I found my first treatment for ''Oblivion'' from 2005 and it had listed in the treatment a soundtrack of M83. Obviously, the ''Tron: Legacy'' collaboration with Daft Punk worked out as good as I would have ever hoped, oI wanted to do something similar in that I'm pulling an artist from outside the movie business to create an original sound for this film." Kosinski continued, "Daft Punk's music wouldn't make sense for this movie. It had to be an artist whose music fit the themes and story I was trying to tell. And M83's music I felt was fresh and original, and big and epic, but at the same time emotional and this is a very emotional film and it felt like a good fit."

To guide Anthony Gonzalez of M83 through the scoring process, director Kosinski brought in Joseph Trapanese, who co-wrote the score alongside Gonzalez. Kosinski states, "Together they have created the score that I have dreamed about since I first put this story down on paper eight years ago." Trapanese first came to Kosinski's attention when he collaborated with Daft Punk on ''Tron: Legacy'' as arranger and orchestrator.

In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', M83 frontman Anthony Gonzalez said, "I started to write the soundtrack just reading the script, and then when you get the picture in, it's different, and you kind of switch to another vibe and change stuff and start experimenting a lot with the music." Gonzalez added, "I worked with Joseph a lot, and he's very particular about the music in his movies, so we spent a lot of time talking about music and working the arrangements together."

Back Lot Music released the soundtrack on April 9, 2013. A deluxe edition of the soundtrack was released the same day exclusively through iTunes. It features an additional 13 tracks. The soundtrack was composed by Anthony Gonzalez and Joseph Trapanese. The lyrics to "Oblivion" were written by Gonzalez and Susanne Sundfør. Metacritic rated the soundtrack 55/100.

Distribution

Marketing

Details about ''Oblivion'' were kept secret, though the studio was said to have been "very excited" about the film. Promotions began in April 2012, with a part of the footage being screened at the 2012 CinemaCon even though filming had begun just one month before the event. The footage was described as "a combination of early concept art, rough animation, and unfinished dailies", showcasing a glimpse of the film's landscapes.

Theatrical release

''Oblivion'' was first presented in Buenos Aires on March 26, 2013, Dublin on April 3, and in Hollywood on April 10 at the Dolby Theatre where Cruise himself announced before the screening that the film was actually the first feature to be mixed completely "from start to finish" in the latest state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos surround sound.

Home media

The DVD and Blu-ray for ''Oblivion'' became available online for pre-order in North America on April 24, 2013, just five days after its initial release in the region. One month later it was announced that the United Kingdom branch of Universal Studios would be releasing the film on home video in its region on August 6, 2013, with the on-demand version on August 18, 2013. The release was scheduled to be in both a standard and a SteelBook Limited Edition form. In June 2013, it was announced that the film would be released on home video in America also on August 6, 2013. The Blu-ray releases will feature commentary with Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski, deleted scenes, M83's isolated score, and a series of making-of featurettes. The Blu-ray debuted at number 1 in sales for its opening week.
On August 9, 2016, a 4K Blu-Ray edition was released.

Release

In North America, the film earned US$37.1 million on its opening weekend, including US$5.5 million from IMAX screenings in 323 theaters, making it Cruise's best North American opening after ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and ''War of the Worlds''.

The film closed on June 27, 2013. ''Oblivion'' grossed US$89.1 million in the U.S. and US$198.8 million internationally, bringing the worldwide total to US$287.9 million.

Reception

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 53% based on 255 reviews and an average score of 5.88/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Visually striking but thinly scripted, ''Oblivion'' benefits greatly from its strong production values and an excellent performance from Tom Cruise." Metacritic gives the film a score of 54 out of 100 based on 41 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Todd McCarthy of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' stated "''Oblivion'' is an absolutely gorgeous film dramatically caught between its aspirations for poetic romanticism and the demands of heavy sci-fi action". Justin Chang of ''Variety'' said "Insofar as ''Oblivion'' is first and foremost a visual experience, a movie to be seen rather than a puzzle to be deciphered, its chief pleasures are essentially spoiler-proof." Kevin Harley of ''Total Film'' gave the film three stars and said "It isn't a reboot or reimagining, refreshingly, but ''Oblivion'' plays like a stylised remix of superior sci-fi ground-breakers". Andrew O'Hehir of ''Salon'' praised it as a "sly, surprising and visually magnificent Tom Cruise vehicle that has forced me – and many other people, I suspect – to revise my first opinion of director Joseph Kosinski."

Tasha Robinson from ''The A.V. Club'' states that an "unsettling sense of not-quite-right coats all of the film's steely surfaces, and Kosinski and his co-writers give audiences plenty of time to absorb the unease and gear up for the action". Some reviewers noted the filmmakers' ambition. James Berardinelli of ''ReelViews'' calls the film "imperfect but some of its imperfections result from being overly ambitious". Bill Goodykoontz from the ''Arizona Republic'' states that the film "may not live up fully to its grand ambitions, but it isn't for lack of trying". Jake Coyle of the ''Associated Press'' states that " r those who enjoy the simple thrill of handsomely stylized image-making, ''Oblivion'' is mostly mesmerizing." Alan Scherstuhl from the ''Village Voice'' states that "Kosinski proves himself talented in ways his ''Tron: Legacy'' didn't suggest."

Kenneth Turan from the ''Los Angeles Times'' called the film " re adventurous than your typical Hollywood tent pole, ''Oblivion'' makes you remember why science fiction movies pulled you in way back when and didn't let you go." Michael O'Sullivan of ''The Washington Post'' states that " you're able to forgive and forget, ''Oblivion'' isn't a bad place to start loving Tom Cruise all over again." Steven Rea of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' states that " ruiseoversees some pretty impressive stuff here, from the drones that ping-pong around in the air to the bubbleship that Jack uses to go to and fro to that awesome house with its panoramic views." Peter Howell of the ''Toronto Star'' states that the film "gives us stars in the cast, stars in our eyes and it even tweaks a brain cell or three".

Colin Covert from the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'' states that the "film is rife with elements from its finest predecessors – Kubrick, Lucas, the Wachowskis, and Pixar could be listed as creative consultants – but it has the spirit of a love letter to classic sci-fi, not an opportunistic mash-up". Cary Darling of the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' states that the film is "stitched together from spare bits of other, often better films, stumbl ngawkwardly in story and plot, shuffling toward the predictable explosions and fireballs of the third act. Yet... ''Oblivion'' is so beautiful to look at."

Richard Corliss of ''TIME'' stated that " space, Jack arperhopes, someone may hear you dream. But in a movie theater, no one will see you yawn." Anthony Lane of ''The New Yorker'' states that the film " els ever more grounded and stuck." Richard Roeper of Richard Roeper.com called it the "sci-fi movie equivalent of a pretty damn good cover band". Tom Charity of CNN.com called it " ossy, derivative, ambitious and fatally underpowered." J. R. Jones of the ''Chicago Reader'' states that the "story eventually devolves into a grab bag of sci-fi tropes but, as with so many other Cruise productions, the sheer scale of everything is so mind-numbing that you may not notice". Rick Groen of Canada's ''The Globe and Mail'' called it "an okay blockbuster, a multimillion-dollar exercise in competence".

Tom Long of the ''Detroit News'' states that "Kosinski offers plenty of action here, and he lets the plot reveals bleed out slowly (explanations keep coming right to the end)." Long states that "a great deal is derivative, but it's fast-moving derivative". Stephen Whitty of the ''Newark Star-Ledger'' states that the movie "combines a lot of different films, yet somehow remains less than the sum of its parts". Claudia Puig of ''USA Today'' states that "Kosinski focuses on cool visuals but stints on a compelling plot. It's a dazzler, but the story lacks the impact of the futuristic look." Joe Morgenstern of ''The Wall Street Journal'' states that the "mystery posed by ''Oblivion'' as a whole is why its mysteries are posed so clumsily and worked out so murkily".

Manohla Dargis of ''The New York Times'' states that the "agony of being a longtime Tom Cruise fan has always been a burden, but now it's just, well, dispiriting". Rafer Guzman of ''Newsday'' states that " aying spot-the-influence is the most fun you'll have during this expensive-looking, slow-moving plod through familiar territory." Joe Williams of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' states that " stead of developing characters, Kosinski pours most of his imagination into the annihilated landscapes and futuristic gadgetry." Michael Phillips of the ''Chicago Tribune'' states that " en you go to a futuristic, dystopian, post-apocalyptic barn dance starring Tom Cruise and his space guns, you expect a little zap with your thoughtful pauses." Peter Travers of ''Rolling Stone'' calls it "arid and antiseptic, untouched by human hands".

Rene Rodriguez of the ''Miami Herald'' states that the "filmmakers don't even have the courage to see the story to its proper end, opting for a ridiculous finale that feels vaguely insulting". Soren Anderson from ''The Seattle Times'' states that " u start wondering whether director Joseph Kosinski and screenwriters Karl Gajdusek and Michael DeBruyn have any original ideas of their own. And then you realize they don't." Randy Myers of the ''San Jose Mercury News'' states that the "mix of gee-whiz gadgetry and the day-to-day routineness of Jack and Victoria's lives is interesting enough, but the film is too glacially paced for it to work". Chris Nashawaty of ''Entertainment Weekly'' states that " l the eye candy in the world can't mask the sensation that you've seen this all before...and done better. Too bad the movie's script wasn't given the same attention as its sleek, brave-new-world look."

See also

* List of dystopian films
* List of films featuring drones
* List of films featuring space stations

References

External links

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{{Authority control

2013 films
2013 science fiction films
2013 science fiction action films
Alien invasions in films
American action adventure films
American science fiction action films
Films about cloning
Drone films
American dystopian films
Fiction about memory erasure and alteration
Films based on American comics
Films directed by Joseph Kosinski
Films produced by Peter Chernin
Films scored by Joseph Trapanese
Films set in 2077
Films set in New York City
Films shot in California
Films shot in Iceland
Films shot in Louisiana
Films shot in New Orleans
Films with screenplays by Michael Arndt
IMAX films
American post-apocalyptic films
Relativity Media films
Titan (moon) in film
Universal Pictures films
Chernin Entertainment films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films