journal features

movie review - Oblivion

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Toronto, 2015.01.28

This is an under-rated science fiction piece about a pair of humans assigned to oversee robotic drones that patrol a quadrant of the dying Earth. Without giving too much away, the male half of this partnership begins to notice some things that don't add up with the narrative that's told by their handler up in orbit. This culminates in contact with human residents of the supposedly vacant planet. That quickly leads to a falling out with his partner and serious questions about his handlers that get dramatically worse when he starts finding answers.

The final scene in the movie lands on a rather decent note in which against all odds a family of sort is reunited and the planet's residence have a shot at a kind of peace on an Earth that's very nearly - but not completely - fucked.

Strongly recommended.

rand()m quote

One day you will take a fork in the road, and you're going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go one way, you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and get good assignments. Or you can go the other way and you can do something [...] for yourself. If you decide to do something, you may not get promoted and get good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won't have to compromise yourself. To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you have to make a decision. To be or to do.

—John Boyd, US Air Force