Aliens versus humans. A conflict that is the basis of so many movies that making another would be like beating a dead horse. If so, ”Edge of Tomorrow” is beating that horse a hundred more times, then bringing it back to life.
Directed by Doug Liman, “Edge of Tomorrow” is a “Groundhog Day” meets “Independence Day” fight-fest, with Tom Cruise as the only one that can save the planet from imminent destruction. Other than the introductory montage of news clips about the alien invasion, we are thrown into the middle of the action. The movie begins the day before the ultimate battle that will determine everything.
Cruise plays Maj. William Cage, a cowardly media representative for the U.S. Army that is dropped onto the battlefront against his own will. Out there, he manages to kill one of the aliens, known as Mimics, its blood drenching him before he dies. Instead of staying dead, he wakes up to the start the day all over again. From there, we watch Cage live and die hundreds of times before going from being a deserter to becoming a deadly soldier who is willing to give up everything to help the cause.
The fast-paced nature of the movie expertly emphasizes that time is running out fast for Cage and, with the help of his counterpart Rita Vrataski, he must figure out how to beat the aliens rather than figure out why they are here.
Played by Emily Blunt, Vrataski is everything one could want from a female protagonist. She kicks ass, takes names and doesn’t rely on anyone for anything. Where Cage hesitates, Vrataski goes full force, teaching Cage how to kill the Mimics and, ultimately, doing what he is unable to so that the world can survive.
In all the battle scenes, the Mimics look like deadly, glowing barnacles. They are faster and stronger than any soldier that goes up against them, at least at first. The movie describes the Mimics as an organism rather than an army. If you kill the brain, you kill the body, and somehow Cage has entered their nervous system. Because the objective is so simple, Liman is able to have fun with the plot along the way.
The life and death aspect is taken very lightly, with Cage dying in hundreds of hilariously stupid ways before getting down to business. Overall, the movie never takes itself too seriously. There’s always time to poke fun at someone, especially Cage, so the movie never feels too grim. While the movie focuses mostly on Cruise and Blunt’s characters, the supporting cast is just as quirky and enjoyable to watch. Although they are misfits by themselves, together they add depth to what could easily be seen as a group of mindless soldiers.
For an action movie with both sci-fi and military elements, “Edge of Tomorrow” gives us the best of both worlds. The aliens are deadly, Cruise is even deadlier and even after all of chances the characters get, you want to see them make it past the edge of tomorrow.
