Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Edge Of Tomorrow :Cruise Into A Really Good Movie


  Let's be honest, Tom Cruise is very polarizing. I love the guy. He makes pretty solid movies, save for a few. He is believable in a drama, romantic comedy, or as a guy who kicks some ass. His resume speaks for itself, but there are those who cannot get over the couch jumping, Scientology, or Katie Holmes. Originally this movie was call All You Need Is Kill. Based off a comic of the same name, but a comic most haven't read. Edge Of Tomorrow became the new title and it is a bit more user friendly. There are rumors that this movie is supposed to flop, but I am here to tell you it is anything but a bad film.


  The movie takes place in the near future. Earth is under attack by aliens that landed as part of a meteor shower. The soldier of the future wears this really cool exoskeleton which allows them to be all they can be and then some. Tom Cruise is Bill Cage. He is the Jerry Maguire of the U.S. Army. He sells the war to the public and handles public relations. Cage, without warning, finds himself on a suicide mission to storm a beach and dies within minutes. His death is just the beginning. Cage is somehow able to repeat the same day over and over each time becoming a better soldier and closer to defeating the alien threat. He meets Rita (Emily Blunt) who, for a while, had the same power and used it to become the greatest soldier in any army.
The two of them are able to formulate a plan that could end up saving their planet.


   Edge of Tomorrow is a combination of a lot of things. It's a little bit Groundhog Day, mixed with some anime type mech, and Starship Troopers. Cruise living the same day over provides a lot of comedy, both physical and verbal. The comedy works. It finds away to ground the movie when it really is an end of the world scenario.  It's repetitive, but it doesn't drag at all. The movie is great at repeating the day, but bringing you back in at different places. It's a complex movie that is easy to follow and I know that doesn't make sense.


   The action scenes are top notch and are big when they need to be. The combat suits are really cool and are anything but Iron Man rip offs. Emily Blunt is believable as a hardcore soldier. She really compliments Cruise and none of their scenes come across as forced. The drop ship sequence is really impressive, but if I had one complaint it would be the look of the aliens. They are not horrible, but they are just tough to follow and look at. They reminded me of the machines in the Matrix merged with the harder to distinguish Decepticons from Transformers. 


     You most likely won't recognize too many of the cast, save for Cruise, Blunt, and Bill Paxton. I think that helps the movie. It is a Tom Cruise movie and that is what makes it work. He has charisma and even though he is aged, can still deliver. Good action, solid cast, interesting story, and a good balance of comedy make Edge of Tomorrow a good summer flick that is worth your time. 



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