Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
USA/Australia, 113 min, Rated PG (ON) G (QC)
Reviewed 06/14, © Stephen Bourne, moviequips.ca
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


Doug Liman - Director
Christopher McQuarrie, Jeremy “Jez” and John-Henry Butterworth - Screenplay
Dion Beebe - Cinematography


SYNOPSIS:

"Major William Cage (Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop - forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again... and again. But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Blunt)." - edgeoftomorrowmovie.com

REVIEW:

Tom Cruise returns to fight the same day in perpetuity as silver-tongued United Defense Forces media relations frontman US Major William Cage, stripped of his rank and dropped untrained into the world's European war against marauding alien beings in director Doug Liman's fast-paced and hugely entertaining actioner adapted from the Japanese book, All You Need Is Kill. Edge of Tomorrow co-stars Emily Blunt as, well, blunt Brit war hero Sergeant Rita Vrataski, and features an impressive supporting cast that includes Brendan Gleeson and Bill Paxton, as stern UDF London headquarters commander General Brigham, and overbearing Heathrow base combat junkie Master Sergeant Farell, respectively.

All You Need Is Kill is sci-fi author Hiroshi Sakurazaka's acclaimed 2004 young adult Japanese novella, published in English in 2009 and more recently adapted as a serialized manga comic book by writer Ryosuke Takeuchi and Eisner Award-nominated artist Takeshi Obata. Sakurazaka's military-based story is set during near-future Earth's battle against unstoppable extra-terrestrial invaders able to foretell humanity's every counter-manoeuvre, and follows the bizarre frontline perils of an untested UDF grunt struggling to escape the purgatory of continually reliving the same day but dying a different battlefield death each time.

After previewing the trailer, I figured this picture was going to be another reasonably fun yet forgettable gamer-centric flick full of boring stock characters, a goofy story and Tom Cruise running and jumping and fighting and running some more through lots of post-production CG sizzle. Edge of Tomorrow has that Hollywood-filtered first-person shooter vibe to it, and the film's "Live. Die. Repeat" tagline pretty much refers to a kind of unlimited lives hack even Pac-Man addicts probably still dream of. Fortunately, screenwriters Christopher McQuarrie, Jeremy “Jez” and John-Henry Butterworth's Starship Troopers (1997) meets Source Code (2011) script crackles with an exciting urgency that tangibly escalates throughout the course of this thoroughly enjoyable movie.

Five years after a vicious horde of large squid-like spinning blurs called mimics invaded Germany from space and poured across Europe in their relentless slaughter of Mankind, the world's combined military force takes its last stand in a daring multiple offensive siege that drops an ill-prepared William Cage among hundreds of mech-augmented foot soldiers on the chaotic and suicidal battleground beaches of Normandy. He dies within minutes, but not before killing a mimic commander called an Alpha whose splattered corrosive blood somehow throws Cage into a time loop. Cage awakens hours earlier. What follows is like déjà vu, but he dies in that battle again. Then, reawakens. Dies. Adapts.

Tom Cruise is exceptional here, finally, effortlessly erasing years of crap and cheese by truly showcasing his three-time Oscar-nominated seasoned versatility on-screen while shifting from moments of highly compelling human drama to high-octane physical action and then to macabre sci-fi humour surrounding Cage's repeated deaths. Tom Cruise haters rejoice, he dies a lot here. In high definition nose hair, IMAX 3D at some theatres. Tom Cruise lovers rejoice, Edge of Tomorrow is a great Tom Cruise movie over-all. Within the context of Tom Cruise Minority Report (2002) great, not Tom Cruise Jerry Maguire (1996) great. The aliens aren't all, "You had me at 'hello' Tom Cruise." That would be weird, Tom Cruise.

One notably hilarious self-effacing scene is when Tom Cruise's character makes a Tom Cruise Mission Impossible (1996) move by evasively rolling under a moving truck and ends up as road kill. Oops. Brilliant. The other brilliant aspect of this picture is that it doesn't keep hitting the same Lazarus button as seen in the goofball romantic fantasy Groundhog Day (1993). The story progresses beyond its initial novelty of repetitively resetting the day and wisely serves up some delightfully surprising twists in the process. It's also smart how you never get a clear look at the mimic ground troops while their multi-legged forms speedily rip and stab through armoured flesh, cleverly accentuating their horrific superiority.

Kudos also go to Emily Blunt for her wonderfully captivating performance as the UDF's mysteriously victorious "Angel of Verdun" Rita Vrataski. Cage and Vrataski share an intriguing secret, and Blunt's brassy role as an outwardly brittle warrior turned Cage's empathetic co-survivor easily stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley from the Alien (1979) franchise. Her strong character's well-measured development arc is an absolute pleasure to watch unfold. More! Top marks as well to immensely talented film editor James Herbert, Oscar-winning cinematographer Dion Beebe and Palme d'Or nominated director Doug Liman for deftly capturing - and making sense of - some of the best adrenaline-pounding, white-knuckled sci-fi action sequences seen in a while. Awesome.

Watching Tom Cruise movies through recent years has been like watching someone you greatly admire suddenly take up playing with power tools in heavy rain, but Edge of Tomorrow seems to turn back time for Tom Cruise fans. A great cast, strong story telling and capably imaginative moviemaking perfectly come together to make this feature a smart, rollicking space invaders ride well worth checking out on the big screen. Reviewed 06/14, © Stephen Bourne, moviequips.ca.

Edge of Tomorrow is rated PG by the Ontario Film Review Board, citing scenes containing some grotesque images in a fantasy, comedic or historic context, use of expletives, mild sexual references, limited use of slurs, nudity in a non-sexual context, scenes that may cause a child brief anxiety, or fear, limited embracing and kissing, and restrained portrayals of non-graphic violence, and is rated G by la Régie du Cinéma in Québec.


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showtimes: http://www.google.ca/movies?near=kanata-ottawa&hl=en&view=map&date=0

REFERENCE:

Website: http://www.edgeoftomorrowmovie.com/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUmSVcttXnI
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1631867/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_of_Tomorrow_(film)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdgeofTomorrowMovie
Plus: http://www.haikasoru.com/all-you-need-is-kill/


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