Review of Edge of Tomorrow (2014) by Ike O — 12 Jul 2015

Best summer blockbuster in YEARS. Surprisingly hilarious and witty, brimming with fantastic sci-fi ideas and genuinely gripping (and often inventive) action sequences, the enduring foundation the film's success is built on is the rapport between Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise, who inject thinly drawn characters with enough life to power 5 summer tentpoles.

The ending is a mess (rather unsurprising, in many ways), and the marketing was a disaster - changing the phenomenal title from ALL YOU NEED IS KILL to the generic 'Edge of Tomorrow', which was so bad they changed it again to 'Live Die Repeat' - but word of mouth propelled it from its inauspicious beginnings, b'cos it really is a delightful film, worthy of multiple viewings.

Contained the single funniest moment I saw in theaters in 2014. It's nowhere near as thoughtful or deep as the book that spawned it (the book also boasts an infinitely superior ending, trading on a far deeper friendship between its two heroes), but it is much funnier and far more of a thrill ride.

For once I'm a bit glad they changed the ending of a book, b'cos man was it depressing. After the first rollicking 90mins, it would've been criminal to have such a downer of a finish. All-in-all, a fantastic film.