One of the things I noted in the middle of watching Oblivion was how the soundtrack is so similar to Daft Punk’s TRON: Legacy soundtrack. This factoid went into a list of things that are bugging me lately. Namely that movies copy each other. People fell all over themselves for the Daft Punk soundtrack so it only stands to reason that any futuristic movie for the next couple of years copies that formula regardless if it’s the best choice. In looking up Oblivion’s director, Joseph Kosinski, I learned he directed the aforementioned TRON: Legacy. So I guess it makes more sense now. He also stayed with the tried and true movie sci-fi legacy that futuristic order comes in the form of completely hoseable, white and clear surfaces. Oh and that the opposition lives in the dark caves of the world’s underbelly, resembling mole people that scavenge for whatever dirty remnants they can find. In fact, members of the opposition are even named “Scavs.”

Oblivion stars Tom Cruise as Jack, a technician living with his female love Victoria (played by Andrea Riseborough). Together they maintain the droids that protect a series of massive floating ships that churn up Earth’s seawater and turn it into energy. It seems the Scavs came from another planet and tried to destroy Earth. The forces of good prevailed but at the steep cost of nuking most of the planet and in a last desperate attempt to live, built a massive triangular shaped ship that houses the rest of humanity while Jack and Victoria protect the energy turbines that are using the last of Earth’s resources to move humanity to another planet. Got it? If not, don’t worry. They’ll tell you a couple times before the movie is done.

The only mess is that user interface.

Jack and Victoria communicate with the ship in the sky via a liaison up there named Sally who mysteriously keeps asking the couple if they are “an effective team.” Security is important, it seems. Our Earthly droid keepers had their memories wiped in case they were to get caught by any of the remaining Scavs hanging out below ground. While that idea is fascinating, there’s a lot going on in Oblivion and I found myself sometimes distracted into thinking this was going to be a lot of unexplored concepts put into an action overdrive of a film. Director Kosinski does not skimp on the special effects and at times there is gratuitous action, from the bubble ships flying through lightning storms to the orb-like killer droids that whisk around the planet and kill anything not named Jack or Victoria. But it all looks so good and is so well played, you can’t dislike it despite feeling like it’s not really going to lead anywhere interesting due mostly to an overabundance of ideas and common tropes. I never cease to be amazed by Tom Cruise’s ability to overcome highly publicized missteps and general uber-fame to be totally watchable in whatever role he’s portraying and that really helps. Riseborough’s perfectly sterile looking Victoria keeps you wondering what the heck is going on. And when the mysterious Julia, played by Olga Kurylenko, crash lands onto earth and Jack gets captured by the Scavs, as you know he will, suddenly you realize there is a method to the madness.

Don’t worry, I’m Morgan Freeman

All the off-putting but quite beautiful effects, strange dialog, and perfection of precision take a turn on their head in a way that only lead Scav, Beech (Morgan Freeman), can make believable. From watching the previews we know Jack gets captured by Mr. Freeman, but I am completely pleased to report the previews do not tell you anything of real importance. It’s the second act of the show where all these unexplored ideas come together into one piece and it all makes sense. Unfortunately I can not tell you what any of this is or else ruin the movie. What I can tell you is that Oblivion is far smarter than I expected. Far deeper than I expected. Far better looking than I expected. And far more entertaining. After seeing Prometheus and wondering if anyone bothered to ask if it’s stupid or not before shooting, I can say with certainty that Oblivion avoids the same fate and comes out looking quite good. The very ending passages for me go into the melodramatic and put unnecessary (“why would they allow that?”) questions into my head just as I was getting answers. It doesn’t really fit the same intelligence as what preceded, but I can say it will not hinder your enjoyment of this film. In fact, when I’m complaining that 95% of the movie is actually quite smart, that seems like a pretty good ratio. It’s not that anything in Oblivion is particularly fresh. It’s that all the familiar things come together well. Very well. Even if it takes a while. Probably the worst thing is that I ate a $4 box of M&M’s while sitting there munching through the chase scenes. Earlier in the day I had purchased Resistance 2, a used but top rated video game for my PS3, for $3.80. I think I got a better deal on the video game and will bring my own M&M’s next time.

So should you see Oblivion? Yes.