The soldier that Tom Cruise plays in “Edge of Tomorrow” (***
OUT OF ****) gets his butt kicked all over creation. “Bourne Identity” director Doug Limon’s supercharged,
imaginative, science fiction time-loop thriller synthesizes elements of “Starship
Troopers” and “Source Code.” Surpassing
Cruise’s earlier desolation Earth outing “Oblivion,” “Edge of Tomorrow” differs
chiefly in terms of story and setting.
Although “Oblivion” occurred on post-apocalyptic planet Earth, “Edge of
Tomorrow” takes place before the apocalypse, with mankind desperately pitted against
aggressive extraterrestrials with no compassion. Lightning-fast, squid-like creatures called ‘Mimics’
have invaded Earth. These invincible whirling
dervishes with tentacles have been on the warpath now for the last five years, blitzing
their way across the European continent, and advancing toward England without
any sign of slowing down. Predictably,
Cruise lands on his feet in the middle of this catastrophic, life and death mayhem. He doesn’t play the usual heroic character that
he played in “Top Gun.” This represents
the first time Cruise has portrayed a yellow-livered skunk. He goes from being a coward to a hero in an
arc that is as entertaining as the film is exciting. You can differentiate Tom Cruise movies by
how often he gets his butt kicked.
Remember “The Last Samurai?” Cruise
had to grovel in that splendid fish-out-of-water spectacle set in Japan. Usually Cruise doesn’t grovel. His groveling, however, makes his subsequent
acts of heroism all the more convincing.
Mind you, “Edge of Tomorrow” would still qualify as a good, solid movie
even if Cruise weren’t getting kicked all over creation. Mankind is poised on the brink of extinction
as these insatiable aliens decimate populations. The futuristic, 80-pound, exoskeleton combat
suits that the soldiers wear looks as cool as the aliens are imitating. Everything about “Edge of Tomorrow” looks
great. This isn’t a shiny, chrome-plated,
sci-fi epic, but a tarnished, grungy-looking one. Some of the performances stand out. As Master Sergeant Farrell, Bill Paxton
steals every scene that he has with his Southern-fried drawl, while Brendan
Gleeson makes a curt supreme army commander and reminded me of Norman Schwarzkopf. Last but not least, lean-muscled Emily Blunt is
pretty hard-nosed and business-like as the pugnacious ‘Angel of Verdun.’ Alongside these fine performers, Cruise holds
his own as a disgraced officer who redeems himself in the crucible of combat.
Oscar winning “Usual Suspects” scenarist Christopher McQuarrie
and “Fair Game” co-scribes Jez and John-Henry Butterworth have adapted Japanese
author Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s novel “All You Need is Kill,” which came out in
December 2004. As a military public
relations officer for the United Defense Force, Major William Cage (Tom Cruise
of “War of the Worlds”) has never fired a shot in combat, but he does a commendable
job as long as he is stationed far behind the lines. Imagine Cage’s horror when UDF General Brigham
(Brendan Gleeson of “Braveheart”) decides to embed him with ground troops as
they storm the French beaches in a last ditch effort to thwart the Mimics. Cage flatly refuses Brigham’s orders to
follow the troops into battle. Not only
does Brigham order Cage arrested and demoted to buck private, but he also assigns
him to join a first wave combat unit. Although “Edge of Tomorrow” is a sci-fi saga,
the beachhead scenes where Cage and his unit are flown into action against the
Mimics is reminiscent of Spielberg’s classic “Saving Private Ryan.” Like “Starship Troopers,” the soldiers are
flown into combat and dropped from helicopter-style planes. Once on the ground, the troops rely on their
heavily armed battle suits to shred the Mimics with fusillades of
gunfire. The Mimics are slaughtering soldiers
left and right until one of them smashes headlong into Cage. Our terrified protagonist uses a mine to kill
one. When Cage kills a large ‘Alpha’
Mimic, the slimy critter douses him with its blood. Incredibly enough, despite dying from the
Mimic’s blood, Cage discovers that he gets another chance to live and fight
again! Essentially, like the Jake
Gyllenhaal character in “Source Code,” Cage relives the first day over and over
until he encounters another soldier, Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt of “Loopers”),
who experienced the same sensation when a large ‘Alpha’ Mimic killed her. Before he meets Rita, Cage is killed several
times in combat. Meantime, each time
that he dies, Cage awakens just as suddenly to find himself back at Camp
Heathrow alive and well. Director Doug
Limon displays quite a bit of flair in handling the same scene over and over
again. Each time that Cage reawakens
from his death, he devises new ways to contend with the Mimics. Sergeant Rita explains to Cage that the same
thing occurred to her at Verdun until she received a blood transfusion. Eventually, as he relives the same day over
and over again ad nauseam, Cage becomes so familiar with the turbulent events
of that day that he can anticipate when and where the Mimics will strike. Before long, Rita trains Cage so that they
become a dynamic duo, and they discover that the Mimics have a secret that
makes them invincible. When they try to
convince their superiors, especially General Brigham, that they can destroy the
Mimics, they are treated as deserters.
Although it boasts some fascinating as well as formidable alien
adversaries, “Edge of Tomorrow” doesn’t emphasize horror so much as tension and
suspense. Meaning, you can watch it and
not worry about leaving your lights on when you sleep for fear of nightmares. Basically, it boils down to a crackerjack
mission movie with Cruise and Blunt assembling up their own crew of misfits to
destroy the aliens and save the day.
Director Doug Limon and his writers steer clear of romance in any way,
shape, or form. The single drawback to
this otherwise atmospheric, first-rate actioneer is that the filmmakers don’t
provide enough details about the invaders from space. Nevertheless, watching Tom Cruise get killed
dozens of times until he knows what to do is as stimulating as it is amusing.
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