EDGE OF TOMORROW Review

Live. Die. Repeat. That’s what Tom Cruise has to deal with in his latest blockbuster Edge of Tomorrow. If I’m being truly honest I didn’t really know what to expect going into the film as though the trailers and premise had me excited the disappointment of Cruise’s last sci-fi film Oblivion left me slightly sceptical. Luckily however the film doesn’t disappoint and is easily one of Cruise’s best films from the last decade.

The basic premise of the film is that the world has been invaded by an alien race known as Mimics with the Earth’s military planning a surprise attack in France. With success expected Major William Cage who has no combat experience is to join the men on the frontline. Things however don’t go as planned with Cage dying and reliving the same day over and over.

The Bourne Identity and Mr & Mrs. Smith director Doug Liman does a wonderful job of brining this story to life with the setting and flow of the movie being very captivating. The way that Liman utilised the repetitive concept of the story really appealed to me as dreading a lagging and dull transitions it was nice to have a finish that was unique and fresh throughout each variation. The action and explosiveness of the battle scenes also impressed this action fan with the stunts and CGI working perfectly.

The film also sees a line of stunning performances throughout with every actor and actress doing a wonderful job. It was however the character developments of William Cage (Tom Cruise) and Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) that appealed to me the most with both actors giving outstanding performances. The way that Cage transformed from a scared coward to a brave and noble soldier really showed the power of human nature with Vrataski’s cold domineer giving a different personality. Cruise and Blunt weren’t however the only two actors to give noteworthy performances as Bill Paxton‘s character Master Sergeant Farrell gave both an authority figure as well as light comedy.

The film was however not quite perfect with it’s ending being slightly predictable. The pace and tone of the film was however helped by the wonderful soundtrack that Christophe Beck produces. It may not be anything too startling and I’d be surprised if it won any awards but it does manage to do fulfil it’s fundamental purpose giving a terrific atmosphere to the film. The scores diversity should also be noted as the change in tone from the explosive action to emotional interactions gave a sombre yet intense flow to the movie.

Edge of Tomorrow overall proves to be a terrific sci-fi film that shows great character development as well as the ability to learn from past mistakes. This along with the films hint of comedy and explosive action make it a film that I for one will watch again and due to that it gets a strong recommendation from me.