Oblivion (2013) - Nothing Fresh.

★★★☆☆

In case you may wonder, this is a story about, simply put, aliens manipulating humans to try to eliminate humans while sucking up the water on our planet to be their energy and power to be able to go on and on. Manipulating how? That’s left for you guys to find out. The story itself is not at all engrossing and fresh. You may not be able to guess what Jack (Tom Cruise) encounters after he enters the restricted area, but you somehow get a feeling like the whole thing is nothing but a hoax. Say, if you prefer philosophical or deep stuff, you should instead check out sci-fi classics like ‘Dark City’ or ‘The Matrix’. The visual effects however, are detailed and realistic. To me, this is only a two-star film, but Morgan Freeman’s performance is certainly worth one more star. I mean his narrative seems so persuasive and charming always like how he does in ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and many others.

‘Oblivion’ has a slight touch on the subject of soul and body, but unfortunately, not really developed and discussed. What is soul? Can a man without a soul be considered a man at all? Do we have a soul then? Is it inside of us, or outside? If it’s inside, inside of which part of us? Could you figure it out? If it’s outside, where? Alright, don’t get me wrong. I do believe there’s such a thing, but it’s definitely not like anything we think it is. Whatever you think it is, is wrong. If you feel anxious about it, I don’t, because I know once I go to Amitabha’s Pure Land, I’ll sure find out! Till then, just smile at it.