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#145 - Edge of Tomorrow
Doug Liman, 2014
During a cataclysmic alien invasion, a military spin doctor is drafted into a squad of mechanised soldiers and soon finds himself reliving the day of a catastrophic battle over and over again.
You'd think that I'd have learned to be more than a little cautious of Tom Cruise sci-fi blockbusters after watching the slick but extremely derivative and empty Oblivion, yet here I am spending time on a movie where the whole premise can very easily be summed up as "Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers" (though that is still preferable to the mishmash of influences that made up Oblivion). Despite the presence of all the gaps in internal and external logic that would make such a premise possible in the first place, to say nothing of the many things that happen as it plays out again and again, Edge of Tomorrow is actually surprisingly decent.
Let's leave aside the derivative premise and nonsensical developments for a moment (especially the latter, which includes events that admittedly have to happen in order to generate some drama). Tom Cruise's action-hero protagonist at least gets a bit more development than usual because he starts off as a self-absorbed fool who takes a lot of physical and mental punishment thanks to his actions at the start of the film getting him thrown into the fray against his wishes, complete with tough-talking sergeant (Bill Paxton), squad of bitter misfits, and of course Emily Blunt as a legendary soldier who mentors Cruise about combat and his newly-acquired power. Though the relationship between Blunt and Cruise does result in the film falling prey to the unfortunate and overly familiar narrative of the competent female lead teaching the incompetent male lead how to be the hero of the movie, it's generally played with a sparseness of sentimentality that makes it seem tolerable.
As far as being a high-concept action blockbuster goes, Edge of Tomorrow gets its action looking fairly good. The combination of eldritch-looking aliens and high-powered suits of armour means that there is a lot of CGI at play and so most of the action sequences almost feel like watching someone else play a videogame were it not for the well-executed editing. It's a credit to the film that the rapid editing goes hand-in-hand with Cruise frequently dying sudden deaths and thus keeps the main plot going at a brisk pace without becoming incomprehensible. Of course, that doesn't stop the first act feeling sluggish even thought it includes the first couple of action sequences. Edge of Tomorrow gets credit for taking a familiar fantasy trope and using it as a springboard for a flashy and reasonably entertaining action movie, and though that's not quite enough to make it significantly transcend its blockbuster trappings, it's certainly a lot better than I would have guessed.
Doug Liman, 2014
During a cataclysmic alien invasion, a military spin doctor is drafted into a squad of mechanised soldiers and soon finds himself reliving the day of a catastrophic battle over and over again.
You'd think that I'd have learned to be more than a little cautious of Tom Cruise sci-fi blockbusters after watching the slick but extremely derivative and empty Oblivion, yet here I am spending time on a movie where the whole premise can very easily be summed up as "Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers" (though that is still preferable to the mishmash of influences that made up Oblivion). Despite the presence of all the gaps in internal and external logic that would make such a premise possible in the first place, to say nothing of the many things that happen as it plays out again and again, Edge of Tomorrow is actually surprisingly decent.
Let's leave aside the derivative premise and nonsensical developments for a moment (especially the latter, which includes events that admittedly have to happen in order to generate some drama). Tom Cruise's action-hero protagonist at least gets a bit more development than usual because he starts off as a self-absorbed fool who takes a lot of physical and mental punishment thanks to his actions at the start of the film getting him thrown into the fray against his wishes, complete with tough-talking sergeant (Bill Paxton), squad of bitter misfits, and of course Emily Blunt as a legendary soldier who mentors Cruise about combat and his newly-acquired power. Though the relationship between Blunt and Cruise does result in the film falling prey to the unfortunate and overly familiar narrative of the competent female lead teaching the incompetent male lead how to be the hero of the movie, it's generally played with a sparseness of sentimentality that makes it seem tolerable.
As far as being a high-concept action blockbuster goes, Edge of Tomorrow gets its action looking fairly good. The combination of eldritch-looking aliens and high-powered suits of armour means that there is a lot of CGI at play and so most of the action sequences almost feel like watching someone else play a videogame were it not for the well-executed editing. It's a credit to the film that the rapid editing goes hand-in-hand with Cruise frequently dying sudden deaths and thus keeps the main plot going at a brisk pace without becoming incomprehensible. Of course, that doesn't stop the first act feeling sluggish even thought it includes the first couple of action sequences. Edge of Tomorrow gets credit for taking a familiar fantasy trope and using it as a springboard for a flashy and reasonably entertaining action movie, and though that's not quite enough to make it significantly transcend its blockbuster trappings, it's certainly a lot better than I would have guessed.