Edge Of Tomorrow

Director Doug Liman’ Edge Of Tomorrow is a taut, action-packed thriller with a unique plot and an interesting brand of alien vermin that has infested Western Europe and is preparing to move east and west over the Earth.

Tom Cruise plays against type as Major Cage, who is responsible for PR and whose only combat training was in ROTC.  When he tries to get out of being embedded with the troops going into battle with the aliens, General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson) has him forced into the invasion as one of the troopers.  Killed within minutes of the fighting, Cage is caught in a time loop and forced to re-live the day over and over.

Why that is is cleverly revealed in the deft screenplay written by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth.

 

While it would be easy to compare the plot to Groundhog Day, the stakes are higher and the best action happens when Cage comes out of the loop. 

Cruise, eventually, comes into his super-hero form and is matched all the way by Emily Blunt, who is absolutely fabulous as the heroine of a previous invasion, when she was caught in the time loop, as well.

Doug Liman is a master of action, but his true mastery is in being able to keep the viewer clear as to what is happening and why.

I give Edge Of Tomorrow a 4 out of 5.