Edge of Tomorrow *** (2014, Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt) – Movie Review

Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt form a surprisingly effective tough-guy duo as two futuristic army soldier types defending the planet from aliens in director Doug Liman’s explosive, brainy blockbuster.

Somehow, and please don’t ask me how, Cruise’s cowardly Lieutenant Colonel Bill Cage is caught in a time loop of his last day in the battle against the aliens. Cage is killed in minutes, he finds himself starting over in the time loop, repeating the same mission and being killed over and over. Yes, it’s Groundhog Day with aliens and huge weapons. Cruise discovers it’s up to him now to save the world, so he mans up and pairs up with Blunt’s muscle-woman Special Forces soldier Rita Vrataski  to get to Paris and blast the main pesky alien out of this world.

There’s an ingenious story, edge of seat battle action and lots of eye-catching thrills, all done with great CGI effects and striking use of 3D. Liman’s movie is fast paced and exciting, and very lean, spare and economical for a blockbuster at little more than around an hour and three quarters, so there’s no flab on it and it never gets dull. Talking about economical, it was filmed in the UK almost entirely on the same sets used for the Harry Potter films at Leavesden Studios. So, good. [Trafalgar Square in London was also a filming location for some action scenes. How did they get it empty like this?]

Cruise and Blunt are understandably tough and grim, and effectively so, though a bit more humour in their relationship (and in the film) would help. They mostly have the whole movie to themselves and they deserve centre screen like this. Cruise is well fired up and effective. Blunt makes sure she deserves her co-starring above-title billing. Reliably classy actors Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton and Noah Taylor all help out as General Brigham, Master Sergeant Farell and Dr Carter, filling the few blank spaces.

There’s such an obvious amount of incredible effort up there on screen that you have to admire and marvel at the movie. But ultimately it seems a little bit thin and disposable, with more effort than result. It’s very much a popcorn summer blockbuster, an experience that you probably wouldn’t particularly want to repeat, except perhaps to check out if you’d understood the story. Nevertheless, settle back and enjoy the unusual idea and some awesome sequences, and the result is good, borderline excellent, entertainment.

Liman directed The Bourne Identity and Mr and Mrs Smith, and it’s great to have him back.

It is based on the Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Rights to the novel were bought in late 2009, and a spec script was sold to Warner Bros for production.

For those insisting on asking me how Bill Cage is caught in a time loop, I think this is the idea. Aliens have developed the technology to replay the same battle day after day, which means their victory is inevitable. But Cage is infected with alien blood, which gives him the power to reset continually and re-fight. Keeping dying but coming back to life, he turns into a battle-hardened warrior who can kick alien butt. It’s all that simple after all.

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(C) Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more film reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/