Edge Of Tomorrow

 EDGE OF TOMORROW

Director : Doug Liman
Year : 2014
Genre : Science Fiction
Rating : ****1/2

 

Playing with the fabric of time seems to be something of a trend in cinemas at the moment. Even as I write this, 'Oculus', a superb horror movie about a haunted mirror that allows the past and the present to come together is creeping audiences out worldwide while 'X:Men - Days Of Future Past', the wonderfully entertaining superhero epic about time travel and changing the outcome of the present by changing the events of the past is breaking box office figures and making millions upon millions of dollars a week. Now we have 'Edge Of Tomorrow', the latest science fiction thriller to star Tom Cruise and yet another big budget bonanza that takes great pleasure in giving the middle finger to Einstein.

Based on the best selling Japanese light novel 'All You Need Is Kill' by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, 'Edge Of Tomorrow' tells the story of William Cage (Cruise), a pencil-pushing Major in the United Defense Force who comes to London to discuss a catastrophic alien invasion that has taken a hold of Continental Europe. However, when Cage argues with his General (played by a gruff Brendan Gleeson) about an imminent D-Day style counterattack on the beaches of France, he is knocked out, kidnapped and taken to a military base where he is robbed of his seniority and labelled as a deserter posing as an army officer.

Two days later, he is unwittingly dropped into a full scale warzone between humanity and the aliens but within minutes, Cage is doused by toxic extra terrestrial blood and killed. However, instead of remaining dead, Cage is startled to discover that he did not in fact perish on the sandy beach but has instead become caught in a time loop; a time loop that causes him to relive the previous 48 hours over and over again. While he is at first disorientated by his rather unusual predicament, Cage soon learns that his new special ability allows him to work out the best possible way to defeat the monsters that have taken a hold of the continent and with the help of the fearsome Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) who helps him to develop his somewhat mediocre fighting skills, Cage quickly learns that his curse may actually be mankinds only hope.

The idea of characters of reliving the same day over and over again is of course nothing new in cinema, with 'Groundhog Day' and 'Source Code' immediately springing to mind. However, while 'Groundhog Day' used the deja vu scenario to generate laughs and 'Source Code' used it to portray fear and desperation (with both doing a wonderful job), 'Edge Of Tomorrow' uses the repetition of time to tell a story which is both thrilling and surprisingly comical.

As is the case with 99.9% of blockbusters made today, 'Edge Of Tomorrow' looks technically astonishing; with giant special effect aliens, 'Pacific Rim' style mech-suits and futuristic looking aircraft providing the film with a lot of blistering eye candy. But while the picture certainly looks impressive, it succeeds thanks to the central performances from Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt whose on screen chemistry is both funny and surprisingly interesting. Due to the simplistic and easy to follow nature of the narrative, director Doug Liman really allows the characters and the wildly entertaining screenplay written by John Henry Butterworth, Christopher McQuarrie and Jez Butterworth to take centre stage, giving the movie a much needed injection of good will and humanity.

Unlike many of the recent sci-fi epics which carry an imposing air of doom and imminent annihilation, 'Edge Of Tomorrow' keeps it's tongue firmly in it's cheek, with a good few number of jokes and gags counteracting nicely with the intense action scenes and scary alien creatures. A great deal of fun is had with Cruise's ability to come back after being killed and Liman donates a good 10 minutes or so to give us a genuinely funny montage sequence of Blunt taking great pleasure in shooting the superstar right between the eyes dozens and dozens of times. However, while 'Edge Of Tomorrow' is certainly humorous, it is also a fully fledged action and science fiction blockbuster, with plenty of explosions, aliens, death and futuristic weaponry to keep any true sci-fi fan happy.

Despite faring pretty poorly at the box office, 'Edge Of Tomorrow' has become something of a bona fide cult hit, with action and sci-fi fans vehemently leaping to it's defence at the slightest sign of any criticism at all; and I would certainly find myself fitting into that camp quite nicely. While the film may not be totally perfect (an unsatisfying finale ending the movie on something of a bum note), 'Edge Of Tomorrow' is still a terrifically entertaining time at the movies with enough thrills and spills to quench the thirst of any die hard action or science fiction fan.