Tuesday, 10 June 2014

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

I review Edge of Tomorrow, a science fiction action movie starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, and directed by Doug Liman.





There are a lot of things that you can compare Edge of Tomorrow to – with the most obvious one being Groundhog Day – because that’s essentially what it is. It’s a Science Fiction movie where you get to see Tom Cruise killed over and over again, and allows for a fantastic watch that is arguably one of Tom Cruise’s best movies yet. And while I’m not a fan of Cruise himself, he actually proves that he’s capable of acting in this one – delivering a great portrayal of a character who goes from a cowardly douchebag to badass action hero.
                 
That character is who we meet at the start of the film - William Cage, someone who’s never seen the front line before. However, in preparation for an assault on the French Coast (ala D-Day) against hostile alien invaders, Cage is enlisted, and put into J Squad as part of an army that mans Titanfall-esque suits to fight against the aliens. However, as expected – Cage doesn’t last long, and is quickly killed within minutes, only to find himself waking up shortly before his first encounter with J Squad – and quickly works out that it’s not the only time that this is going to happen to him.

The cast is surprisingly good. Emily Blunt plays a kickass warrior woman and serves as Cage’s mentor, Rita Vrataski, there’s a very video-game esque feel to this movie as it goes from strength to strength, being consistently fun and consistently entertaining. There really is never a dull moment, and with plenty of humour involved throughout the script (with a nod to the earlier performances of Bill Paxton, who’s also in this movie and plays Cage’s sergeant). It’s handled very well, and following on from the success of the likes of Winter Soldier, Days of Future Past, Godzilla and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow provides a nice, hopefully standalone science fiction movie that doesn’t disappoint. In fact, come the year’s end, It’ll probably end up within the top 10 movies that I’ll see this year, if not the Top 5. I was really impressed with it.

However, Edge of Tomorrow, despite the fact that it’s incredibly fun, it isn’t perfect. The final act isn’t as great as what came before – falling flat with relatively uninspired aliens. But aside from that, there isn’t much where this movie puts wrong.

In terms of CGI, the special effects are great. The futuristic D-Day assault at the beginning of the movie is handled very well, and the conflicts are all action packed and engaging. The soundtrack is also pretty good as well, with John Newman’s Love Me Again being played over the end credits – meaning that of course I had that song stuck in my head when I was walking out of the cinema and pretty much for the entire journey home.

So ending aside, is Edge of Tomorrow worth seeing? Certainly. It’s one of the best movies of the year so far, and really impresses – coming highly recommended, Tom Cruise fan or not.

VERDICT: 4/5

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