Edge of Tomorrow: Review

For a film relatively out of the blue, Edge of Tomorrow has a very interesting plot going for it. Lieutenant Cage (Tom Cruise) is sent to England to meet with a high-ranking general (Brendan Gleeson) to plan a strategy which will help humanity defeat a dangerous alien threat, but the general has other plans and soon Cage is being sent to the front-line to push forward humanity's last hope of victory. Due to incredibly little training however, Cage quickly dies. 

And then he wakes up. And then he dies. This repeats for a seemingly infinite loop, with Cage retaining all his knowledge from his 'past-life', and soon he becomes more than just an untrained soldier; he becomes an expert in predicting precisely where the enemy are and will be. After surviving more than a few minutes, Cage eventually meets the resistance's poster-girl Rita (Emily Blunt), who is seemingly the only person alive who understands his predicament, and soon they begin planning to put an end to the invasion permanently. 

Cage (Tom Cruise)

For a premise which practically revolves around repeating the same day over and over, Edge of Tomorrow does an exceptional job of keeping things engaging and entertaining. Near the beginning of the film, the same scenes are shown repeatedly to get a feel for how the mechanics actually work, but soon we are only shown Cage's perfection as a fighting machine, and this is definitely a high point of the movie. Seeing him going from a useless victim to a perfect soldier is incredibly satisfying, and thanks to the movie limiting how much is shown more than once, things never become stale. 

The technology within the film is also imagined just right so that it doesn't alienate audiences, which can be a common theme within sci-fi. Similar to last year's Elysium, a lot of the futuristic features within the film are dirty and gritty, making it less jarring when shown on-screen. This is a world clearly a long way off our own, but one which isn't a complete impossibility, making the action all the more enthralling. 

It's difficult to consider many negative aspects within the film. I went in with no expectations and little-to-no knowledge of how things would play-out, and I was pleasantly surprised when I left. The only minor issues I have would be ones stereotypical with many futuristic alien-invasion films, such as the fact the invaders themselves are never really given any sort of motivation for their violence aside from the simple goal of taking over Earth, but even this is excusable thanks to the enjoyable manipulation of time throughout. 

Rita (Emily Blunt)

Verdict 
Edge of Tomorrow is a film which genuinely surprised me with how good it was. Not to say I had drastically low expectations, but I didn't think that it would be such a unique and engrossing story. The dynamic between Cage and Rita is also really engaging to watch, considering Cage remembers everything about her and yet to her, he is nothing more than a confusing soldier. Even the ending wraps up nicely, with no open-ended scenes for a forced sequel. Overall, I'd definitely recommend seeing this film, especially if you're in the need for a good, unique sci-fi. 

"What I am about to tell you sounds crazy. But you have to listen to me. 

Your very lives depend on it. You see, this isn't the first time."