well my partner and I saw Oblivion on Monday and both really liked it, conversely my parents absolutely hated it. But for me it hit all the right beats.
I don't see it as an upbeat film, it was just filled with so much pathos, poignant music, harking back to that which was lost. and the tragedy of Jack and Victoria was just too much, I actually had a slight tear in my eye late on at how much they had both been used.
When Morgan Freeman was telling Jack about the 'war' I welled up. imagine hearing someone tell you that when the alien troopships landed, it wasn't aliens, it was thousands of yourself that came pouring out, laying waste and killing indscriminately and that everything you believed was a lie. ouch.
but the most tragic of all I felt was the Victoria character. Taken by the tet, her nascent 'love' or affection for jack twisted so that they can work together and then being so well made by the Tet and indoctrinated that she cannot see what Jack sees or alternatively she does want to see, and while Jack faces his 'dreams' or memories, for her they scare her too much.
and then when he loses her right in front of him only to try and save Victoria '52' asking her to come with him and she still refuses.
the final seal on it was the flashback as he goes to the Tet at the end and listens to the flight recorder and you discover that all of their little things like 'another day in paradise', the photograph of them together, even sally, are all moments from their lives that the Tet has taken and shaped for its own ends.
How this is getting poor reviews is beyond me. Just shows how much so called critics are warped. Clones, etc is not the most original twist, we know that, it's been done before and in Moon was done very well.
However the film gave character, wonderful scenery and location work, awesome FX work and overall I rate the film very highly.