Apropos of time travel, which this movie concerns, wouldn’t you love to go back to the days when Tom Cruise made science- fiction films that didn’t blow? The difference between the ones that do and the ones that don’t is all about the director, of course. The ones he made with Spielberg (Minority Report and War of the Worlds) don’t blow. The ones he’s made with everybody else are gale-force flops.
Can you even recall the plot of last year’s mega-budget dud Oblivion? Made with Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy), it set a record for instant forgettability. I typed 600 words about it, yet — except for a vague image of Cruise in a futuristic outfit firing a futuristic weapon — I come up blank. Though I’m guessing the fate of mankind was in his hands.
In Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow, Cruise also fires futuristic weapons in a futuristic outfit and holds the fate of mankind in his hands. But this time he does so trapped in a Groundhog Day-style time loop. Liman’s the brains behind the Bourne franchise, so one approaches the picture with great expectations of breathless action, depth of character and narrative dazzle. One is in for great disappointment.
The idea is that the planet’s under attack by aliens called “mimics” for no discernible reason. They’re mechanical Tasmanian devils with razor-sharp tendrils that zip around slicing and dicing everything in sight, sort of like supersize versions of the blade assembly in your blender.
With most of Europe reduced to rubble, the humans have just scored their first victory under the leadership of a sword-wielding warrior named Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt). Army PR specialist William Cage (Cruise) is ordered to chronicle her inspirational exploits at the front. But he isn’t in the fight five minutes before a contrived series of events results in his being killed and then waking up the day before the battle, a cycle that’s repeated a number of times. A number that’s really big.
Cruise’s performance has been called a departure because his character’s portrayed as cowardly early on, but that completely misses the point. The script, by Christopher McQuarrie with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, starts Cage out as a wimp to highlight what a badass he becomes, honing his combat skills with each do-over. By the movie’s midpoint, he’s indistinguishable from the action figures Cruise has played countless times.
Likewise, there’s little we haven’t seen before in the spidery space invaders or the generic battles. The closest the picture comes to tweaking formula is in temporarily reversing the traditional male-female dynamic. For a few minutes, Blunt’s no-nonsense ninja’s a far more potent figure than Cruise’s hapless flack, but let’s not get too excited. We do, after all, live in the age of Brave, The Hunger Games and girls with dragon tattoos. We’re not exactly breaking new ground here.
By the time Act Three rolls around, things have deteriorated from repetitive to downright silly. The writing team reportedly struggled with the ending and ultimately threw up its hands. You don’t want to know what Liman has waiting for you at the Louvre. Art has nothing to do with it, believe me.
The bottom line? Another summer movie season, another Tom Cruise tentpole. Ho hum. It’s practically part of nature’s cycle at this point. The irony is that the star is trapped in a real-life time warp of his own design, with an upcoming slate that includes Top Gun 2, Mission: Impossible 5 and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. “Never go back.” That’s rich.
Want to know where you should never go? Within a mile of Edge of Tomorrow.
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2014.
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In ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ the time loop repeats itself numerous times. The video editing in this movie is impressive. The editor has done an excellent job and the plot moves forward briskly. No other sci-fi movie has previously been attempted in Hollywood on such a grand scale, with both Aliens and Time Travel in the same plot. The audience are give enough clues in the movie to think and figure out what is happening in the movie.
The movie has interesting references to Eastern philosophies of death and rebirth, along with excellent action, great sound and eye popping CGI graphics. The plot of this movie is very good too, as the audience are given the experience to figure out what is going on.
But this review of ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ by Rick Kisonak really does injustice to Tom Cruise and the movie. There is no reason to talk about Tom Cruise’s previous movies, when writing a review of this movie. yet, in this review, the reviewer writes and acts like a kid who is Jealous with Tom Cruise. This reviewer clearly has no idea about what he is talking about in this review. Tom Cruise has a huge fan base all over the world and his previous movies are excellent and loved by lot of people.
The Edge of Tomorrow is a real good movie with time loop along the lines of ’12 Monkeys’, ‘The Butterfly Effect’, ‘Looper’, ‘Source Code’ and ‘Groundhog Day’. The idea behind this movie is that, after every day, time reset itself to the previous day. Go watch and enjoy.
The reviewer must represent an extremely small portion of the potential audience. Who is he writing for? I mean, seriously, my Mom would never come “Within a mile of Edge of Tomorrow” or even within a mile of a review of it. My recommendation is that he should probably refrain from reviewing anything involving science fiction, action, and humor — especially dark humor — to name just a few. In fact, perhaps it would be safest if he confined himself to daily viewings and reviews of “The English Patient.”
I saw the movie and then read this review. I am fairly certain he didn’t watch the same movie I did. Rick obviously is not a sci-fi fan and is not able to give an unbiased review of, what really is, a fun and entertaining movie. While obviously not Oscar material, Edge of Tomorrow kept me entertained through the entire movie. I had more chuckles at the dark humour than I have had watching full-blown comedies. Whatever personal vendetta Rick has against Tom Cruise shouldn’t influence his reviews. The fact that it does negates his ability to ply his trade as a film critic. The truth of the matter is…get some popcorn, go watch the movie and enjoy yourself.