Edge of Tomorrow is the new summer blockbuster from Doug Liman (director of the Bourne trilogy) staring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. Before I jump into the review I gotta say that I really wasn't expecting much from this movie but boy was I surprised. For those that don't know Edge of Tomorrow is the american remake of the japanese light novel All You Need is Kill, which I haven't read yet but after watching this movie I'm inclined to check it out. The movie follows Cage (Tom Cruise) who is forced into the front lines of war where he kills and is subsequently infected by the alien which curses Cage to repeat his day when he is killed. Think of it as Groundhog day mixed with Halo, which each death or loop Cage learns and becomes a better solider than the previous time he ran through the day.
You would think that a movie that focuses on the same day over and over again would lose it's flair after the first few times but this movie owns this aspect of time travel and makes it enjoyable each time. When you see the first loop you are a bit confused but with each subsequent death and loop I found myself laughing at Cage's death and start of the loop. This movie uses the loop as both a comedy point at the start of the movie and a plot device to create tension and drama in the movie. At the start of the movie we see Cage as somewhat of an asshole because he puts his life ahead of everyone else's but after dying on the front lines of war with the mimics he is forced to relive the painful and terrifying with each death and slowly he learns and becomes the hero the humans need for victory.
Doug Liman uses the loops to spoon feed the audience little bits of information at a time to the audience as we slowly learn about Cage's predicament and how the war connects to the fate of the planet. Early on in the movie Cage's deaths are surprising and violent but that changes when Cage meets Rita (Emily Blunt) a hardened alien killing machine who has had a similar experience to Cage and begins to train him. During their training Rita constantly kills him and this forceful loop creation makes the movie seem more like a video game which may feel odd for some viewers but for gamer it feels familiar as they can relate to Cage's frustration in being unable to complete his objective. Tom Cruise really sells the initial wimpiness of Cage and well as the transition to a hardened hero, early on in the movie the sequences where he tries to run away from combat are utterly hilarious.
After some time the movie reaches it's mid game where the Cage and Rita hatch a plan to take down the mimics and find the Omega, this is the part of the movie which ultimately feels boring, underwhelming and only seem to serve the purpose of adding some connection and romance between Cage and Rita. This pairing seems forced and unnecessary in the movie, especially when Cage should be trying to save the world and not trying to get with Rita. In many instance in the movie it seems that Rita should be taking charge and have the spotlight but albeit this opportunity to flesh out a bad ass female character more was lost. I also kind of wish we got too see more bad ass sword fight sequences with the aliens.
The third act in the movie i felt was amazing as the stakes were raised because Cage had lost his ability to reset the day meaning that everything that takes part in the final act was permanent and that made the action sequence more climactic and nail biting but then all that was thrown away with the ending which opted to follow a typical Hollywood happy ending which wasn't bat but the ending felt rushed and was left unexplained in what the hell actually happened. I would have rather preffered a darker and less happy ending for this film. A darker ending would have probably made this movie a bit better in my opinion but nevertheless this was an amazing summer blockbuster which surprised me and many of my friends who expected it to be a mediocre action flick. Overall this movie just missed out on being in the top 5 movies of the year so far but is definitely in the top 10, if only the ending were a bit better and the romance not forced.
I give this movie three and a half Tom Cruise heads out of five. A surprising movie which will definitely keep you entertained, catch in theaters if you get a chance and take your friends!
Review written by Armour Dude
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