Oblivion

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler

Joseph Kosinski's sophomore effort feels like throwback to 70's sci-fi thrillers with a modern sheen. It's also the latest to utilise Iceland's amazing natural landscapes to suggest an otherworldly local. Between this, Game of Thrones and Prometheus and starting to get a real desire to travel there and check it out myself. Nice to see Nikolaj Coster-Waldau north of The Wall.

Kosinski's original story has an intriguing, if familiar, premise. The twists and turns the characters and plot takes after that are nothing particularly new and the relatively slow pace leave this one feeling flat for much of the running time. It's also a much smaller scale film than I was expecting. Despite being set against these massive landscapes it feels more like a play for the majority of the running time.

But one can't deny the beautiful visual design. Kosinski obviously has a knack for great world design and the uniformed look of the technology combined with the natural location shooting and looks great. Those droids are given some great and very ominous sound design.

I saw the widescreen version but I'll be checking it out again in a few days to see the full frame version at IMAX and look forward to hearing those droids on their system and those few extra pixels of imagery.

If you're into those old school sci-fi thrillers you'll recognise all the beats here. It's worth a look for the visuals but don't expect an action blockbuster or you'll be bored out of your mind.