Oblivion Review: I'd Watch It For Morgan's sake! (UPDATED!)

So I went to see Joseph Kosinki's Oblivion yesterday and I was impressed in the overall quality of the film. I will try my best to avoid giving away spoilers to anyone who has yet to (and still wants to) see it.

Firstly, the acting was solid. Tom Cruise (who played Jack Harper, the hardworking and inquisitive drone technician) and Andrea Riseborough (who played Victoria, Jack's assigned partner who watches his back on
every mission while reporting vital information to the head of the Tet) really connected. I may not be versed in the art of acting (I only took one year of theater in high school), but what I saw in terms of 1) how they both reacted to the actions of the other and 2) how they expressed their emotions in a way that was not overly dramatic,  made the story that much more believable. There were times when cues were sort of lost (in one particular scene, Andrea seemed like she was waiting to get confirmation from Cruise to advance to the next dialogue), but the acting for the first hour completely overshadowed them.

I have to note that Andrea Riseborough was so, SO much more attractive in this movie than Olga Kurylenko (I will not discuss her character to avoid spoiling a potential bombshell for some of you who have NOT read the summaries from sites like Wikipedia or Rotten Tomato). It was probably the character's strong-willed personality and intense expressions in some key scenes that made me more compelled to follow Andrea, than Olga, in a dialogue. Also, the dress design for her character was top-notch.

Speaking of which, the costume and prop designs were all top-notch. I am not familiar with Marlene Stewart's works, but she did really, really well in portraying the motif of class struggle, as well as the personalities of each recurring character.

Lastly, the graphics were absolutely incredible! If there was one thing that really bought me over, it was the overwhelming convincing CGIs.

Now, I have to warn some of you who might be going to watch Oblivion sometime this year. This is a hardcore sci-fi movie. It is not just the acting and design that makes it so. The themes and concepts are strongly favored towards sci-fi enthusiasts, so if you are not big on Halo or Star Trek, some parts of the movie WILL confuse you. But if you are a sci-fi gamer or movie enthusiast, then Oblivion is chalk full of references to past games and movies.

In my opinion, I would give this movie a "worth-watching" rating. Solid acting, solid execution of design and graphics. However, the concept was taken from a lot of other well-known references. But  Morgan Freeman was such a badass! I'd watch it for Morgan's sake.

UPDATED

Here is the trailer, courtesy of Universal Pictures. Please show them your appreciation by liking the trailer here.

Oblivion - Theatrical Trailer