Live. Die. Repeat.
That’s the smart mantra behind “Edge of Tomorrow,” the unfortunately
titled but damn entertaining Tom Cruise sci-fi actioner that marries “Groundhog
Day” to “Starship Troopers.” The trailers promises action and explosions. Those
we get. But it’s also a surprisingly funny romp about a pompous PR-hack-turned-soldier
(Cruise) who resurrects every time he is killed in battle against alien
creatures that mesh robotics and Red Lobster dinner fare. How so? Not
important. What is of interest: Dozens of those deaths are comedy gold such as
when Cruise -– let’s face it, the guy has ego to spare –- eats some tires getting
run over while escaping push-up duty. But there’s a better reason to cheer:
Emily Blunt plays the kick-ass hero who pummels Cruise’s worm into a deadly
warrior. Blunt -– best known for comedy -– is damn good. Never weak per some
script mandate. Cruise again gives his all, his eyes going from vacant to
deadly smart. Director Doug Liman (“Bourne Identity”) wraps up with a popcorn friendly finale, but the ride is worth repeat views. Female hero.
Pure send-up of macho action tropes. Bill Paxton satirizing
“Aliens” bravado. Far better than its given title. B+
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Emily Blunt was incredible! And I really haven't seen a Cruise movie since Vanilla Sky or Eyes Wide Shut... so .... I was very very pleased with how they played Cruise to type (egoist, driven characters usually changed by an epiphany) then twisted his character to a likeable martyr for humanity.
ReplyDeleteSure there are lots of similarities to other movies that bothered me some... Starship Troopers comes to mind, the Matrix and also Groundhog's Day..... but I think as satire goes, it was a fun ride and a very relevant rehash of similar material.
I should try to read the source material.
Edge was better than Godzilla which had its share of cliches too. But overall, I'm happy with my summer movies so far this year.
B+ for me too... not quite an A- but that's mostly because it borrows heavily from other plots we've seen before. The editing was incredible. And SFX.