Hey gang, Valkor here. With the summer of movies upon us, it’s
time for me to leave the Val-Cave and hit up the local theaters
to check out some of the larger theatrical films before they run
their course and hit the home front. As a fan of Bill Murray’s
“Groundhog’s Day”, Tom Cruise’s latest flick, Edge of Tomorrow
bears a striking similarity – with a sci-fi twist, and I did not
wanna pass up that experience. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.
Major spoilers, especially the ending.
Edge of Tomorrow follows one Cage (Cruise), who wakes up and is suddenly demoted from his rank as Major to private and placed into the ragtag bunch of soldiers called “J-Squad”, one day prior to them shipping out for battle. And this is not just any war with human vs. humans; no sir, earth has been invaded by an alien race and they’re spreading across the planet like wildfire. Cage has zero experience at being a soldier and it shows when he can’t even find the safety off for his power suit. J-Squad is being sent in to help handle a situation, but it turns out to be an ambush and the troops are all but wiped out, leaving Cage as the last man standing. He faces off against what is known as an “alpha” of the alien race and at the last minute he sets off an explosion that takes him and the creature out… except it doesn’t.
As it turns out, being drenched in the Alpha’s blood stripped it of its ability to time-loop, passing it on to Cage who awakens to find the whole day has started all over again - and it continues each time he dies. His only link to all this time-looping craziness is one bad ass soldier named Rita, who went through the same time-looping experience, but lost her ability when she received a transfusion. Together they’ll use Cage’s ability to not only up his battle skills, but to find and defeat the largest, most elusive of the alien invaders, that which they call “the Omega”, in hopes of putting an end to the war.
If you’ve ever wanted to see what a true video game come to life is really all about, then Edge of Tomorrow is that movie – Cage essentially levels up through gained experience from repeated battles, dies and respawns from the beginning, engages with NPC like characters who repeat much of their dialogue, has a co-op character with a big ass sword ending the film fighting a huge omega boss. Lastly, the film is adapted from a light novel turned manga titled “All You Need is Kill” written by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. I haven’t read the manga… yet, but I’ll be sure to look into it. For now, let’s delve a little deeper into the film with the TOV Breakdown.
The Good:
I kinda thought the story for Edge of Tomorrow would be an overly complicated mess, but I was quite surprised how easy this was to get into. Maybe having watched such films as Groundhog’s Day or Source Code has better prepared me to handle such a film. Or maybe the film is just that simple. And I think it is, which isn’t a bad thing. And as an action film, this is pure enjoyment from beginning to end! The major battle that sets up Cage’s time-loop journey and aids in his progression as a soldier upon repeat is big and brutal, one I didn’t mind watching over and over because there was always something new that he did or handled a situation differently that keeps your attention, because you really don’t want to miss anything. And once he mastered the suit – holy shit that was bad ass! Emily Blunt’s Rita character also shows off some crazy skills and it was a joy watching her do battle when she did. The special effects were well done, I loved the power suits and the look of the alien creatures, though they’re quick in movement, when you did get a good look at them, they were downright creepy. The acting is also a plus and Cruise puts on an amazing performance as Cage; he’s slow and timid at first, but you can see just this experience starts to take its toll on him. Emily Blunt fits the mold as tough as nails Rita, yet she still looks sexy after taking all that abuse. And finally Bill Paxton, who is fun to watch no matter what he does, he puts on an outstanding performance here as well. Edge of Tomorrow, as it turns out, is an action packed film that’s loads of fun, highly energetic and very entertaining!
The Bad (spoilerish):
I thought how the film ultimately ends, maybe a bit too much on the cheery side. I guess it’s just me, I thought it was better when it appeared that he died, maybe toss in some flashbacks and switch to things moving forward, with him a hero through it all. Unless that cheery ending was all a dream or he’s in his own heaven? Hmmm…
The Ugly:
N/A
If you’re looking for a solid action film, then Edge of Tomorrow is definitely the one to watch! It’s the perfect summer sci-fi flick that’s thoroughly entertaining and lots of fun. I highly recommend checking it out. And out of TOV 5 stars, Edge of Tomorrow gets 4.5. Time for a repeat viewing? Yes indeedy!
