Edge of Tomorrow

Aliens. The Matrix. Starship Troopers. Source Code. Groundhog Day. Saving Private Ryan… Just some of the movies you’ll be reminded of while watching Edge Of Tomorrow, which is fitting for a for a movie that deals with going back to the past and changing it slightly for a better outcome. What it may lack in originality it makes up for with ingenuity, and what we end up with is the biggest surprise of 2014’s blockbusters so far. As it turns out, Edge Of Tomorrow is actually kind of great.

Cruise plays Lt. Col. Cage, who starts off as the least Cruise-y guy ever; a cowardly publicity face for the army fighting a war against invading aliens in central Europe. When he’s sent to the front lines for some on-the-ground footage, what should’ve been a surprise win for humanity turns out to be quite the opposite, and Cage is killed within minutes. He also got a mouth-full of E.T.-blood right before dying, which gives him a small dose of the alien’s unique power - every time he dies, he travels back in time to the same specific point, with the possibility of ending the day with a different outcome. Teaming up with war-hero Lt. Vrataski (Blunt), who previously possessed the time-travel power and used it to win a major battle, Cage must re-live (and re-die) every day, in the hope of changing the losing tide of this war.

In someone else’s hands, this film might’ve got itself tied up in knots trying to explain the time-travel rules, the wants of the aliens, the exact relationship between Cage and Vrataski, not to mention their kick-ass battle suits and why exactly Blunt is armed with a huge sword, but director Liman (The Bourne Identity) and writer Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) know when to give an explanation, and what is just cool and exciting enough not to warrant one.

A second-act mini-mission feels unnecessary complicated, and the ending feels a little flat when compared to the jaw-dropping opening battle scene, but there’s still a level of intelligence and confidence to be found even in these lesser scenes. Cruise and Blunt are in top form, and ably assisted by a gruff Bill Paxton and even gruffer Brendan Gleeson, while the script is littered with just enough humour to let you know it’s not taking all this TOO seriously, so maybe we shouldn’t either (plot-hole pokers need not apply).

Smart, funny, visceral and action-packed, Edge Of Tomorrow is definitely a must-see. And then go see again. And again. See what we did there?