Leading man Tom Cruise, along with co-star Emily Blunt and Director Doug Liman (Bourne Identity, Mr and Mrs Smith) really knocked it out of the park with this one – Edge of Tomorrow is set to be one of the action film highlights of the year. Set in the not too distant future, the film explores the ‘alien invasion’ theme from a fresh angle and really delivers. I was on the edge of my seat!
Cruise plays Major William Cage, a military PR man. War has broken out in the fight to save the world from aliens and Cage is the man getting people to enrol through TV publicity. However, despite not having a day’s fighting to his name, through some unfortunate circumstances he finds himself on the frontline. It was a pleasure to see Cruise play this character, who is so unlike anyone he’s played before – Cage is a real coward and tries to get out of fighting at every chance.
Within minutes of landing on the beach he’s killed. Boom. Done. Thanks for playing. However he instantly wakes up again, back where he started the previous morning at the army base trying to get out of going to war. Strange things are certainly afoot! It happens again and again, and each time he dies in a new and inventive way (in some cases with great comical timing!). While coming into contact with Blunt’s character, Rita Vrataski, and trying to save her from dying (again), she instructs him to come find her tomorrow back at the base ‘when he wakes up’. They both die (again) and when Cage wakes, he sets on a mission to find her. Vrataski knows what’s happening to him and they begin piecing a plan together to try save the world.
Based on the graphic novel All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, Edge of Tomorrow brings together an all star production crew, including Director of Photography Dion Beebe (Memoirs of a Geisha), Costumer designer Kate Hawley (Pacific Rim), Special Effects Supervisor Nick Davis (The Dark Knight) and Production Designer Oliver Scholl (Jumper, Independence Day). Elements from all these members is evident in the film and makes this a truly great cinema experience. The action sequences are great, there’s excellent stunt choreography, the costumes are fantastic, the aliens are different – it really look like mankind stands no chance, and the story is fresh and totally engrossing.
Blunt plays Vrataski brilliantly, and she has a real Joan of Arc quality to her. Dubbed ‘The Angel of Verdun’, Vrataski has some mean fighting chops and kicks some serious alien butt. The challenge is that every time she sees Cage, it’s because he’s died and the day has ‘reset’. Blunt plays this well, and the character is able to develop even though it’s always the same day and each encounter is repeated. Again, Cruise does a great job and his character really comes out of his cowardice and becomes another force to be reckoned with.
The only real criticism is that this film doesn’t really need to be in 3D. The special effects and action sequences are enough on their own and don’t play on the 3D effect that much. Watch in 3D if you must, but if you can only get to a 2D viewing, this will suffice!
Overall Verdict: Overall this was terrific viewing. Although there was a whole host of action, the film was still lots of fun and there was some classic humour injected amongst the scenes of total destruction. The story is great, and although the ‘Groundhog Day’ concept is not new – watching the action stars perfect their fighting and strategy from living the same day over and over was a real blast. This is sure to be a big hit and comes as the must-see action film of the summer. Highly recommended.
Reviewer: Kevin van der Ham