Will Tom Cruise ever die? Or get old,
for that matter?
“Edge Of Tomorrow” makes you doubt
that either will ever happen. This time around, he plays Major
William Cage. He may wear a uniform, but he's a soldier in name
only. In the near future he inhabits, humanity is under attack by
aliens called Mimics. But that's actually not the only bad news,
since we happen to be losing, and thus are teetering on the verge of
complete and utter extinction. None of this is even remotely new
territory, but it's the way this story is told that makes “Edge Of
Tomorrow” such an enjoyable ride.
As Major William Cage, Cruise is
perfectly willing to serve as a mouthpiece of whatever agenda is
handed to him, but he's also a selfish coward who has taken great
pains to avoid combat, or really go anywhere near it. However, he's
thrown into it (literally) after he gets on the bad side of General
Brigham (Brendan Gleeson) and is put in the tip of the spear of a
would-be modern(ish) D-Day to take back Europe form the Mimics. He
figures he's as good as dead. He's right.
But it turns out, death really isn't
the end, or at least not for him, because Cage wakes up 24 hours
before his death, and somewhat wiser for the experience too. Thanks
to his complete-death
experience, he knows that the Mimics are aware of our plans, and that
all of humanity's forces will be wiped out. But apparently, he's not
as alone as he thinks, because he discovers that war hero Rita
Vrataski (Emily Blunt, clearly relishing playing a badass.)
used to be able to do the same thing. But since she's lost the
ability, it's now up to Cruise to insure that the Mimics fail and
their power source that allows them to manipulate time is destroyed,
thus saving the human race. No pressure.
Cruise soon makes the most of his
Groundhog Day, and the man he becomes is almost unrecognizable from
the man we were introduced to. In the process, we're reminded of why
Cruise keeps getting work. (Well, when the work is right for him.)
Over time, his eyes begin to show the wear and tear of man who's been
immersed in battle and death. Again and again, he's forced to watch
his fellow soldiers die, particularly Rita, whose story ends in
several different ways. She too has psychological scars of her own,
such as witnessing the death of her (now permanently deceased) lover
about 300 times.
But surprisingly, there are some
lighter moments that are done just as well as the special effects,
which includes the evil alien Mimics, who here come off as
nigh-unstoppable, lightning fast, tentacled monsters. Cruise is
actually at his best when he's playing inept, especially during the
training montage. It feels much less obligatory than usual since
it's chock full of epic fails, the reset button is a bullet to the
head, not to mention we get to see how a lot of these action stunts
would play out on the first take.
Cruise also has the reliably charming
chemistry with the tough as nails
Blunt, who actually feels like a character rather than a writer
trying to overcome a dearth of strong (or interesting, or compelling,
or just plain good for that matter) female action roles. And the
fact that she is mainly the one leading and training him only makes
her more watchable. Even the supporting characters, featuring the
likes of Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson, mange to make an impression
with very little screen time.
That said, there are a few negatives.
Why exactly are the Mimics invading? It's a good thing here that
they aren't humanized, but it would've been interesting to get a
glimpse of their motives. Then there's the fact that there
always seems to be a single power source whose destruction will
conveniently incapacitate the alien forces.
But those are merely the proverbial
drops in a bucket full of riches. And all these blessings flow from
the meticulously plotted script, the source from which all good
movies flow. Like “Source Code,” it entertains the mind by
ingeniously making use of its time bending premise, then captures our
hearts by giving us characters worth caring about. Enjoy it while it
lasts, because if the trailers I saw before “Edge Of Tomorrow”
were any indication, we shouldn't expect the same from this summer's
other action offerings.
Grade: A-
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