As usual, I am years behind in my movie watching. Edge of Tomorrow slightly intrigued me when it came out because it was a sci-fi directed by Doug Liman, whose work on Swingers, the Bourne Identity, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith I appreciated. And it had Tom Cruise. As creepy as he is in real life, I have to admit that he delivers on the screen. Even in mediocre fare like Oblivion, Mr. Cruise is entertaining and watchable.
Since I very rarely get to the cinema, I didn’t see Edge of Tomorrow until recently. And recently I saw it twice in as many weeks. That’s got to tell you something.
Do I need to summarize? How about I characterize instead? Edge of Tomorrow is Groundhog Day by way of Aliens with combat exo-suits.
What did I like about this movie? I think the action worked well. The battle scenes were exciting and gritty, though this has become de rigour since Saving Private Ryan. Edge of Tomorrow had some fresh ideas, using the aircraft and the enemy both to create tension.
The setting and costuming were excellent. The combat exo-suits (called jackets – I called them harnesses in Starship Commandos, which I think is a better term, though I am biased) seem pretty darn cool, if a bit bulky. The bulks works in this as it is supposed to be near future. The jackets look like something we could come up with if really pressed.
And the acting was uniformly good, if not breathtaking. This is a film for solid performances rather than Oscar grabs, and that’s what we got. I was especially appreciative of Bill Paxton showing up as Master Sergeant Farrell.
This did everything a sci-fi actioner should, and did it well. Time travel always creates problems, and there were a few but I noticed nothing glaring – nothing you could put your fist through let alone drive a truck through. The ending, though, really bugged me. I can’t give it away, except to say that the climax worked whereas the denouement destroyed that.
I give Edge of Tomorrow 4.75 Alpha aliens out of 5. Minor plot holes and an ill-fitting ending mar what was otherwise a great ride.
You can read more about Edge of Tomorrow at Wikipedia and IMDB.
You can read more about Starship Commandos here.