Today’s quick review: Edge of Tomorrow. Cage (Tom Cruise) is an army propagandist who irritates the wrong general and finds himself assigned to front-line combat with a squad of misfits. Armed only with power armor he doesn’t know how to use, he is sent into battle against the Mimics, deadly aliens that have already conquered most of Europe. Cage dies on the battlefield, spattered with Mimic blood, but wakes up again at the beginning of the day. He finds himself trapped in an endless loop, reliving the same doomed offensive over and over again and starting the day over again each time he dies. His only ally is Rita (Emily Blunt), a legendary soldier who was trapped in a similar loop during a previous battle. Together they look for a way to win the unwinnable battle and defeat the Mimics once and for all.
Edge of Tomorrow is a compelling sci-fi movie with a strong premise, a couple of great gags, and a healthy dose of action. Over the course of his ordeal, Cage develops from a self-serving coward into a responsible soldier in his own right, forged in the fiery crucible of battle. Cage and Rita are up against an impossible puzzle; only through successive iterations are they able to chart a safe route through the battle. Every death brings Cage new knowledge, but even with the ability to try again and again, the power of the Mimics is overwhelming. Most of the movie’s tension comes from this grind, the incremental search for a way to live out the day that defeats an unbeatable foe.
Edge of Tomorrow succeeds admirably in bringing its premise to life. Those who love time travel movies, action sci-fi, or the concept of Groundhog Day crossed with D-Day and aliens should give Edge of Tomorrow a shot. Those who are looking for a light sci-fi movie should skip it: despite a handful of jokes, the setting is rather bleak and the two lead characters start off somewhat prickly. Those who tend to pick apart movies should also be wary going in: while most potential plot holes are addressed at one point or another, the plot invites questions that distract from the watching experience. Overall, you should watch Edge of Tomorrow for its intense combat and the video game-like grind of making progress at an impossible task through iteration. 7.9 out of 10 on IMDB.