REVIEW: Edge of Tomorrow

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Based on the movie’s generic trailer, it would be easy to dismiss Edge of Tomorrow as a testosterone-laden Groundhog Day rip-off considering Tom Cruise plays a soldier who keeps repeating the day he died in a horrific alien invasion. (Besides, 2011’s Source Code should technically be the sci-fi flick getting those comparisons since it got there first.)

Still, those who write it off as yet another Hollywood retread are doing themselves a disservice. It’s actually the kind of exciting, pulpy entertainment that summer is made for. The flick also boasts a funny, enthusiastic Cruise performance, along with some of the best work of Emily Blunt’s career.

Edge of Tomorrow takes place in the near-future, after aliens (who look like the result of a drunken one-night stand between an octopus and a Transformer) have decimated Earth’s population and resources. Cruise plays Major William Cage, who has managed to avoid combat by producing puff pieces convincing the war-weary masses to keep fighting. It turns out slimy publicists thrive during the apocalypse.

However, after angering the wrong general (Brendan Gleeson), Cage finds himself on the front line of a suicide mission. Sure enough, he’s killed within minutes. But he immediately wakes up the morning before the battle, caught in a time loop that forces him to relive the last day of his life over and over again.

The decisions he makes might change how he dies – sometimes it’s an alien, sometimes he’s hit by a truck, sometimes it’s purposeful suicide to restart the loop – but the outcome is always the same: Cage is apparently a dead man no matter what happens. However, with each repetition, he becomes a better solider, making it further along in the day.

His exploits draw the attention of Rita Vrataski (Blunt), a legendary Special Forces operative who seems to understand the unique predicament in which he finds himself. As a team, they begin to understand the secret behind the aliens’ strength and – with any luck – a way to defeat them.

While Edge of Tomorrow isn’t a wholly original creation (the screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth is based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need is Kill), director Doug Liman brings the story to life in a unique way, bringing to mind the universal frustration of playing a video game and dying a million times before you figure out how to beat the darn thing.

Liman also creates a realistic, multicultural world, full of diverse peoples forced to band together to survive. The action sequences are spectacular and the battle-worn environments seem lived in, as opposed to the typical artificial look of modern sci-fi fare. (Look no further than Oblivion, Cruise’s last flick, for a perfect example of futuristic blandness.)

I was surprised by how funny the film is, mostly thanks to Cruise’s gift for one-liners and gallows humor. He doesn’t get to utilize that nearly enough, but he puts it to great use here. Initially, Cage is a decidedly un-Cruise role, which the actor takes full advantage of in delightfully smarmy fashion. He’s a scheming coward who looks for any angle available to keep himself out of harm’s way, further demonstrating that Cruise is really good at playing jerks who still maintaining the audience’s interest.

Blunt is every bit his equal, thanks to a fierce performance that’s unlike anything else she’s ever done. I’ve been a big fan of her work since The Devil Wears Prada and it’s thrilling to watch her continue to demonstrate her versatility. Rita isn’t Cage’s moon-eyed love interest, a woman who gazes longingly out the window while her man goes off to war. She’s his equal.

Rita is the one who teaches Cage how to be a soldier. And when he doesn’t learn quickly enough to suit her, she’s the one who shoots him in the head so they can start the day over again. Other than one ill-advised scene near the end, her character’s narrative arc is wonderfully executed.

The other performance worthy of special mention comes from Bill Paxton, one of my favorite character actors. As Cage’s blunt, hilarious commanding officer, he darn near steals the movie out from under the world’s biggest movie star. He essentially repeats the same three scenes dozens of times, but he never wears out his welcome.

Unfortunately, the flick fails to stick the landing in the final minutes. For a second, I was taken aback at what I thought was a genuinely bold conclusion. If the end credits had rolled right after that last underwater shot of Cruise’s character (you’ll know which one I mean when you see it), that B+ at the end of this review would’ve been even higher.

Instead, Liman and the screenwriters tack on a different ending that comes out of nowhere and screams “cop-out designed to please a focus group.” Still, even though the final moments are a bad place for a movie to derail, it’s not enough to take away from the previous two hours of fun. Ignore the lackluster trailer and take a chance on Edge of Tomorrow. It’s an absolute blast.

Edge of Tomorrow is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive material.

Grade: B+