Edge of tomorrow

I was eager to see this movie ever since I saw the first trailer. It won me over immediately.

The first thing that attracted my attention was the mentioning of The Bourne Identity, as the previous work of the director Doug Liman. The Bourne Identity is one of my all-time favorites and I had a lot of confidence in its director. Secondly, all personal traits aside, I really like Tom Cruise as an actor. He has a lot of charisma and he is a good actor. I think he was a very good Jack Reacher as well.

There was a lot of talk on the Internet recently about the underwhelming box office performance of this movie and the reasons for it. The consensus appears to be that the marketing was to blame. In spite of the fact that some $100m was spent, people seemed to have had the wrong impression from the trailers about what the movie would be like. I loved the trailer and it was clear to me that it would be some sort of SF Groundhog Day, which is, by the way, also one of my all-time favorites. It was also clear that Cruise’s character does not start as a hero, and the Emily Blunt would play a significant role. All those things attracted my attention. On the other hand, one prominent aspect of the movie was absent from this trailer (cannot say about the others because I avoided them because I wanted to see the movie without spoilers). Humor. It considerably improves the overall quality of the movie. Perhaps if that had been emphasized more in the trailers, the movie would have fared better. Still its quality is undeniable and it will only be proved in years to come.

The movie starts with media news on the meteor crash that turns out to be an alien invasion. Cruise is a military PR officer who comes to England and is ordered to report live on the attack of allied forces on the enemy positions. He rejects and tries to flee, ending up tased and handcuffed. He wakes up in the base and gets attached to a company of soldiers who are to be deployed the next day. Cruise is placed in a battle suit, a sort of exoskeleton that has been seen many times in SF movies. The attack of the allied forces is reminiscent of the Saving Private Ryan invasion at the beginning of the movie. It is very well done so I will not spend too many words on that.

This is where the plot thickens. Cruise manages to kill an alien and gets himself killed, only to wake up the day before, in the military base. The circle keeps repeating itself and Emily Blunt’s character gets drawn in. She understands what is going on because she had the same experience in the previous battle. Together, they try to end the war, using the advantage that Cruise’s ’’immortality’’ gives them. I will no longer describe the plot in order not to reveal the finale so if you have not seen the movie, get it, watch it, it is a real treat, and if you have, you know what happens. You can watch it again, I know I will.

One of the strongest points of the movie is its story. I loved the explanation of the Cruise’s situation. Also, the character development is well done. Cruise’s character changes in the course of the movie, from scared coward, to pragmatic soldier, to disillusioned and hopeless, to determined and self-sacrificing. Of course, he falls in love with Blunt’s character in the process, which affects his actions, while she is naturally unaware. It is satisfying to watch how it all unravels, and the ending was quite to my liking.

Blunt is excellent in this movie. She perfectly blended various character traits, and she is physically fantastic. She actually does a perfect elbow lever on the floor when she first appears. Awesome.

There are a lot of funny moments. It is fun to see Cruise gets killed in all sorts of ways. I read somewhere that he has been killed in this movie more times than in all other movies that he has made in his entire cereer

The verdict: It is, hands down, one of the best movies this year and I am convinced that it will be more and more appreciated with time. 5/5