Oblivion is nine years old as I write this, and in perusing the reviews written when it opened, they have aged far less well than the movie.

Those reviews are mostly concerned about whatever the hell Tom Cruise was going through at the time, or obsessed with obscure symbolism in the production design.

For whatever reason, it appears the reviewers couldn't get over themselves enough to just watch the movie and evaluate it on its merits.

On the off chance this film has escaped your attention, it is well worth two hours of your time. It is solidly acted and produced, has first class effects, and a spectacular location. The story combines some emotional heft with a clever and satisfying twist at the end.

I watched it again, but this time with my SciFi hating wife. She protested initially, watched the entire thing, and then thanked me for getting her to watch it afterwards.

That's as good as it gets.

The trivia tells us that this is based on a comic book that director joseph kosinski wrote in 2005 but was never published. The story takes place in 2077, just after the "memory wipe" that jack (cruise) describes for us. And the invasion by space travelers, which destroyed most of the cities and made living on the surface mostly impossible. Some great special effets. The control panels, the copter, even the wrecked surface of the planet. Jack is tasked with protecting the structures that support the floating living quarters for the remaining population. I LOVE the mini moto that jack rides around on... kind of like a george jetson briefcase that folds and unfolds. Google it. Some beautiful scenery of iceland, and various film locs in the united states. When another human from the past crash lands, we're not sure what her mission is, or who's side she is on. Some really good suspense, while we wait for answers. Especially when morgan freeman is involved. Really good sci-fi stuff!

As this film opens narrator/protagonist Jack Harper explains the situation to us; the film is set some time after a war during which the Earth was attacked by aliens dubbed 'Scavs'; these Scavs destroyed the moon which led to cataclysmic events on Earth and although the Scavs were defeated humanity was forced to relocate to Titan. In order to provide energy for those on Titan the Earth's oceans are used a fuel for giant fusion reactors. Jack is a technician who works, with colleague Victoria, to maintain the drones that protect the reactors from the few remaining Scavs. In order to protect the Earth's secrets they have both had their memories wiped before their five year mission.

Despite this memory wipe Jack dreams of a woman who he has apparently not met before and has an interest in pre-war items he finds. Everything changes for Jack when a pre-war spacecraft returns to Earth; the drones eliminate all but one of the survivors… the woman of Jack's dreams. He soon learns that nothing was quite what he believed; friends become enemies and enemies become friends as he must decide how to save humanity and the woman he loves.

I didn't know much about this film before watching it; just the blurb on the DVD box and the fact that it starred Tom Cruise… this is probably the best way to go into the film as there is an enjoyable sense of mystery as we wonder what Jack's dreams mean and start to question the 'facts' he has told us. There are hints that things aren't quite what they seem but nothing definite until the 'big revelation' half way through the film… and even then not everything has been revealed. This gradual revealing of the truth kept me gripped. Tom Cruise does a fine job as Jack and he is ably supported be Andrea Riseborough as Victoria and Olga Kurylenko as the woman in his dreams. Morgan Freeman also puts in a solid performance but his part is much smaller than his second billing would lead one to expect. The special effects are great; I especially liked the aircraft Jack uses and the tower he and Victoria are based in… one could almost believe they were real. While this isn't really an action film there are moments of impressive action including a fight between Jack and another technician who looks remarkably familiar. Overall I found this to be a really enjoyable film that fans of sci-fi and Tom Cruise are likely to enjoy.