Edge of Tomorrow
Directed by: Doug Liman
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie and Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth; based on the novel "All You Need Is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton, Jonas Armstrong, Tony Way, Kick Gurry, Franz Drameh, Dragomir Mrsic, Charlotte Riley, Masayoshi Haneda, Noah Taylor
Action/Sci-Fi - 113 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 6 June 2014
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie and Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth; based on the novel "All You Need Is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton, Jonas Armstrong, Tony Way, Kick Gurry, Franz Drameh, Dragomir Mrsic, Charlotte Riley, Masayoshi Haneda, Noah Taylor
Action/Sci-Fi - 113 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 6 June 2014
On the 70th anniversary of D-Day and the Allies landing on the beaches of Normandy, Edge of Tomorrow manifests a similar beach landing across the English Channel into France against a formidable, dug-in enemy. Dug-in is literal, the enemy alien species burrows underground and erupts forth into a cauldron of chaos against an over-matched and helpless human army whose invasion is quickly and gruesomely snuffed out. For one man, Major Bill Cage (Tom Cruise), the invasion is a nightmare because he wakes up after each slaughter the day prior and must experience it all over again.
If the premise sounds familiar, it is because it is quite similar to 1993’s Groundhog Day, but instead of Ned Ryerson’s life insurance pitch and exploring the monotony of a 24-hour time loop, we get a sci-fi, explosive spectacular. We feel Bill Cage’s frustration with the endless grind of failure and abruptly waking up after each impalement, explosion, or even worse. Instead of Bill Murray’s philosophical fatalism, Cruise is more frantically determined since he is habitually slaughtered instead of just falling asleep to achieve cycle repeat.
If the premise sounds familiar, it is because it is quite similar to 1993’s Groundhog Day, but instead of Ned Ryerson’s life insurance pitch and exploring the monotony of a 24-hour time loop, we get a sci-fi, explosive spectacular. We feel Bill Cage’s frustration with the endless grind of failure and abruptly waking up after each impalement, explosion, or even worse. Instead of Bill Murray’s philosophical fatalism, Cruise is more frantically determined since he is habitually slaughtered instead of just falling asleep to achieve cycle repeat.
The glimpses we get of wartime London cleverly emanates a 1940s Battle of Britain feel. The color palate is gray, barricades and sandbags cordon off the streets, and there is even a visit to an aged pub where old-timers wax nostalgic about standing up to the Nazis just as the troops in present day draw a line in the sand against the alien menace. The beach landing is technologically superior to 1944 with advanced Osprey-like aircraft and soldiers encased in body-molded mechanical armor with any number of high-explosive firearms strapped on, yet all these gee-whiz advancements mean nothing against the enemy.
The aliens are difficult to define because we never get a steady look at them. Their spinning and fiercely agile bodies move almost too quick for the human eye to lock on to. They appear somewhat mechanical akin to the sentinels from The Matrix trilogy. They are nameless, faceless, and their only purpose is to serve as the omnipresent guillotine at the end of every failed mission. We must rely on a handful of humans Cage runs into in just about every loop.
Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt, 2012’s Looper) is the war’s most adept soldier so far wiping out over 100 aliens single-handedly in an earlier battle. Cage decides finding and incorporating her skills may go a long way to ending his quagmire. Rita may also hold some secrets of her own. Bill Paxton (2011’s Haywire) shows up as a caricature of every crusty senior non-commissioned officer you have ever seen, a more advanced soldier than his “game over man!” character in Aliens. Cage’s squad of grunts reminded me of the GIs in Aliens, each one with their own distinguishing feature and the one female.
Edge of Tomorrow is adapted from the 2004 Japanese young adult novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, All You Need is Kill. Skillfully adapting it for the screen is Christopher McQuarrie (2013’s Jack the Giant Slayer) who wrote for Tom Cruise twice before with Valkyrie and Jack Reacher. Co-writers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth wrote 2010’s Fair Game directed by Doug Liman, who not only directed the best of the four Jason Bourne films, The Bourne Identity, but who directs Edge of Tomorrow as a fast-paced thriller even when we witness the same scenes again and again. There are a few particular sharp-witted death scenes involving Cage where the audience chuckles at his demise for he does not always die at the tentacles of the aliens but occasionally in mundane circumstances. A little levity goes a long way in lightening battle scenes that can veer quite dark upon repeat viewings.
While we have seen time loops before in Groundhog Day and a version of it in Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow does not come off as derivative, but as a compelling and thoughtful addition to the combination sci-fi/action genre. The ending does not comfortably fit and feels like a compromise to appease the studio or perhaps there is no logical method to wrap the story up. Nevertheless, Tom Cruise (2013's Oblivion) competently carries another large blockbuster; certainly the best large action film of the 2014 summer so far.
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