Review of Edge of Tomorrow (2014) by Steve F — 25 Jul 2015

Back in 2014, I named "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" my favorite 2014 summer blockbuster (yes, over the beloved "Guardians of the Galaxy"), but most people gave that title to the box office bomb "Edge of Tomorrow" (or is it "Live Die Repeat"? Or both?) a film that I missed as I didn't thought that its "Groundhog Day meets Halo" premise would be effective. Does this film live up to its status?

In the future, mankind is at war with an alien species we named "Mimics". These aliens are winning the war but mankind is determined to avoid extinction so they lunch a "Operation Neptune" of worldly proportions as their last stand.

The premise of this film sounds limited for the action genre. As "Groundhog Day" proved, the reversed time concept works perfectly for comedic and dramatic possibilities but it takes away any tension in the action genre as you don't fear for the characters, so I has very skeptical but director Doug Liman managed to prove me wrong. "Live Die Repeat" (screw it, I just going to call this film like that as it is a much better name than "Edge of Tomorrow") is a excellently mate blockbuster that counts with a simple but engaging premise, one of the most memorable and terrifying alien designs I´ve ever seen (they look like a mix of Halo´s Flood with the Sentinels from "The Matrix"), impressively shot action sequences, Liman´s directing manages to make this concept work and to keep you on the edge of your seat, the special effects are beautiful, the comedy is hilarious, it knows exactly what to show and what to omit, the acting is serviceable with the best being Emily Blunt who demonstrates that she can be an action star and Bill Paxton who takes completely advantage of its little screen time, there are actually believable stakes that are masterfully executed, a smart editing that knows when to go for comedy and when to move the plot forward, and it ends at the right time, it doesn't stretch needlessly its story. As you can see, I genially enjoy this film but I still found problems in it. Tom Cruise is not an actor, he is a movie star, so as in every movie he is the same smiley and narcissist persona that he is in most of his films (sure, his character progresses throughout the film but Cruise´s acting is the same), the romance is not believable and it is an unnecessary distraction, the story might be clever and fun to watch but it is extremely predictable, it lacks a memorable score, you never get attached to these forgettable characters as the storytelling is pretty focused on the alien invasion, and it goes to safe territory with its ending when the whole concept was meant to have a dramatic conclusion.

"Live Die Repeat" is one of the most enjoyable and clever summer blockbuster that have arrived in the new millennium, it has its flaws but it also has tons of greatness. It truly deserves its cult status and it may outshine "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" for the position of my favorite 2014 summer blockbuster.