Note: this article contains Oblivion spoilers throughout.
Because whileLegacywas indeed a visually spectacular but narratively thin movie,Oblivionis more complex and resonant.
For a film reliant on huge vistas,Oblivions actually a quite intimate in terms of its cast.
In true Philip K Dick style, nothing in Jacks life is as it appears.
The Scavs arent aliens, but surviving humans.
The Tet isnt an ark containing Earths final dregs of humanity, but a vast artificial alien intelligence.
AlthoughOblivionends on a note of triumph, it quietly forgets about Vika.
Like Jack, her emotional responses have carried over from her previous life as an astronaut.
In fact, Vikas character arc through the film is the opposite to everyone elses.
Yet even here, theres a cloud on the horizon.
Jacks dissatisfaction with this false reality means that their equilibrium is constantly under threat.
Julias arrival, and the sequence of events that follows, results in tragedy for Vika.
Each Jack potentially yearning for a Julia he cant have.
Each Vika essentially doomed to love a man who will never love her in return.
Theres a certain melancholy poetry in its story of a husband and wife reunited after decades apart.
