Review of Edge of Tomorrow (2014) by Chris R — 29 Mar 2017

Edge of Tomorrow is everything a summer blockbuster should be and then some. It's got all the action anyone would want with great acting and a surprising amount of laughs. And unlike so many summer action movies, it actually has a plot and a fascinating one at that.

It is difficult to talk about the plot of the film without giving too much away, but suffice it to say that humans are at war with invading aliens and somehow Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is forced to relive the same day over and over again. It is Groundhog Day meets an alien war and it works incredibly well. The only fear with this kind of plot is the redundancy of repetition. Fortunately, this film does not have that issue, any scenes that "repeat" are different enough that they remain interesting. The war genre, especially war with aliens, opens up the plot to delve deeply into many subjects regarding life, humanity, war, etc. While Edge of Twilight does not delve very deeply into the philosophical themes, it does enough to avoid the tag of "shallow action movie" and also doesn't spread itself too thin as to convolute the plot.

Tom Cruise puts on a great performance ranging from a charming smile to bouts of distraught rage. The only other character of note is another soldier Rita Vrataski (Emily Blount). It is refreshing to see a strong female character in a leadish role - Rita isn't just there to be eye-candy. She a strong fighter, strong-willed, intelligent, and has deep emotions. There are several other minor characters. While the supporting cast is comprised of individuals instead of some generic cookie-cutter characters, they don't get that much screen time; this film is really a two character affair and the two characters are strong enough to carry the film.

If there is an alien war, it'd be nice to have some action and Edge of Tomorrow defiantly delivers on that front. The first battle scene is especially memorable; quick-cuts, the use of sound, and explosions going off everywhere create a sense of a brutal, chaotic battlefield. It's no surprise consider the director, Doug Liman, also directed the action packed The Bourne Identity. There is plenty of action throughout the entire film. The most surprising aspect was how funny the movie is overall. There are plenty of funny one-liners and physical comedy. What the film does best is to use the repetition aspect of the plot to create some very funny moments throughout the film. Of course this is not a comedy movie and it does get serious and tragic as well.

The only real issue I had with the film is the ending. It is a satisfying ending on its own, but there was a huge missed opportunity to have an incredible ending. I won't go into detail as to what that is exactly, but I thought I should say something negative-ish about the film as well, but fortunately there really isn't much to say on that front.