Edge of Tomorrow

You really come to realize we're in the summer season when a high-budget film with Tom Cruise stars in it. Not only is it a Cruise film but a sci-fi film on top of it, which means break out the popcorn and escape, escape, escape. I guess what makes "Edge of Tomorrow" a bit different from its counterparts is that it involves a 'time loop' element whereas reliving an incredibly bad day is the staple here.

An alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world, including the one run by Master Sgt. Farell (Bill Paxton). Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what mounts to a suicide mission by one, General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson). Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop-- forcing him to live out the same brutal, suicidal 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 (Emily Blunt). And, as Cage and Vrataski take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.

Others to round out the cast are Jonas Armstrong as Skinner, Tony Way as Kimmel, Kick Gurry as Griff, Franz Drameh as Ford, Dragomir Mrsic as Kuntz, Charlotte Riley as Nance, Masayoshi Haneda as Takeda, Noah Taylor as Dr. Carter, Terence Maynard as Cruel Sgt., Lara Pulver as Karen Lord and Madeleine Mantock as Julie.

This was directed with intensity and grit by Doug Liman ("Getting In" '94, "Swingers" '96, "Go" '99, "The Bourne Identity" '02, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" '05, "Jumper" '08, "Fair Game" '10). They way Liman was able to get such frustration and confusion out of Cruise was amazing because he gave that character a very real and vulnerable look. It was written by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth based on the novel, "All You Need Is Kill" by Hyroshi Sakurazaka. Certainly this had an over all original premise to it with the aliens and how these two characters had planned to overcome the aliens, however, this does beg the question: have you seen the film, "Groundhog Day"? This was about and individual forced to live the same hellish day over and over again. Sound familiar? There has to be a certain amount of permission here since the writers used this familiar premise within a story that made it work, but I couldn't help but not think of "Groundhog Day" when the time loop part of the film occurred. It became actually comic at that point because of Cage's reliving this combat continuously. The visuals were seamless and even the 3D process enhanced the impact of the film.

If you liked "Groundhog Day" you'll love this, however if Groundhog Day" did nothing more than frustrate you, this might do the same--certainly in particular sections of it. All in all, this was an effective film that's action-packed with a definite comic relief that made this story actually work.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                             Rated: PG-13                          113mins.