Deja View!!!! Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt’s Sci-Fi Epic Delivers Good Action With Little Lasting Impact.
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| Live. Die. Repeat. |
Story
In the distant future, humanity
finds itself in a brutal war with an extraterrestrial species known as the
Mimics. Finding themselves on the brink of extinction, humanity launches a full
scale assault on the beach in France looking to take the enemy by surprise.
Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) visits London only to discover that he will be
shipping out with the battalion heading the assault team. Though he is indeed a
high ranking officer, Cage has no combat experience or training required to
survive in battle. Thinking he has avoided conflict, Cage soon wakes up
stripped of his high rank and thrown into the fire and as a result is killed in
minutes. However, instead of his life ending, he finds himself back to the day
before he ships out. Confused and uneasy, he catches the attention of Sargent
Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) who just so happens to know exactly what Cage is
experiencing being she experienced the same ability herself. Together, Cage and
Vrataski must find a way to utilize this power and somehow end the war that
they are destined to lose.
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| Rita and Cage meet with each other in their battle suits. |
Analysis
Edge
of Tomorrow came into the summer movie season at a disadvantage in terms of
release date. Going up against the more anticipated Fault in our Stars movie,
the film faced a considerable task of playing the underdog in the box office.
Critically, the film was extremely well received. It garnered a terrific 90%
certified fresh rating from critics and an equally impressive 90% fresh rating
from audiences. Variety’s Justin Chang called the film "a cleverly crafted
and propulsively executed sci-fi thriller" and Todd McCarthy of The
Hollywood Reporter stated that the film was "a narratively ambitious
sci-fi actioner" that "takes a relatively playful attitude toward the
familiar battle tropes". He adds that despite the film’s humor, he felt
the time loop premise "tedious" and that "the final stretch
becomes dramatically unconvincing and visually murky". However, despite
the critical strength, Edge of Tomorrow fell hard at the box office only
nabbing the #3 spot behind Maleficent and The Fault in our Stars. As of June 8th,
the film has grossed $140.1 million worldwide. Edge of Tomorrow was clerly an
underdog looking the rise to the challenge. Despite the great critical acclaim,
the film failed to deliver the right goods to topple its young adult
competitor.
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| Cage and Rita in the heat of battle against the mimics on the beach. |
Review
Edge of Tomorrow really didn’t catch
my attention in the very beginning. Yes, it was sci-fi which is right up my
alley, but it just didn’t seem like something I would be all giddy about.
Despite all of this, I gave the film a shot and saw it in IMAX. Afterwards, I
can say it is a balanced experienced. I didn’t hate the film and I didn’t love
the film. I liked it, but not enough to really boast about it like I hoped. The
film is built on the concept of Cage reliving the same horrific death over and
over and growing after every experience. It is a concept I haven’t come across
yet and I must say it kind made me feel uneasy. Over the course of the film,
Cage dies and is returned to the day before the attack. The concept is solid
but my view of it left me a little sour. Seeing the same sequence over and over
kind of got old in a way. Probably because I’m so used to a straight line
narrative where it stays on a path and no one repeats the same thing. But there
are plenty of positives about the film. One, the film is surprisingly humorous.
From the death scenes to the dialogue, the film help keep things from getting
too dull by offering some mild laughs along the way. Acting wise, Tom Cruise is
solid in this film. He plays Cage as a wet puppy who’s lost his way in the
beginning and by the midpoint he is a certified badass. Watching him switch character
traits was fun to watch. After every death, he becomes more aware, more
focused, and more precise. His character completely changes near the film’s
climax. This truly show Cruise’s strength as an actor. Emily Blunt is given a
good all-around role in the film. She displays a keen sense of authority and
sensualness that blend together nicely. I would have like to see her in a more
dynamic role given her likability. Action was good in the film as well.
Sequences were fun to watch and really moved the story forward. Unfortunately,
there was no standout sequence that really stuck with me in this film and to me
that really bummed me out. For an action film of this scale, the fact there was
no memorable action scene that I will fondly remember is underwhelming to say
the least and really effects the film’s lasting impact. All in all, I liked
Edge of Tomorrow, but I felt pretty uneven about the product given I didn’t
care for the “Groundhog Day” concept and the film’s lack of a standout action
sequence. It won’t make my worst film list, but it is in no way is making my
top 5 for this year.
Rating
and Final Thoughts
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Edge of
Tomorrow shines with its humor and action. It has the ingredients of a
blockbuster, but just doesn’t quite have the right punch to make it a standout
amongst the competition.
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Given I
liked the film, I really doubt I will want to experience the film again. Let’s
just call it an enjoyable “One Time Thing”
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