EDGE OF TOMORROW: Tom Cruise may (or may not) be insane in real life but, as an actor, he can be quite good and his last 3 movies were solid efforts and did not deserve the apathy they received. This movie might put an end to that apathy cycle; it is smart, clever, thrilling, epic, film making. Anyone who has seen the previews, knows the basic plot: Tom Cruise keeps dying and re-living the same disastrous battle against an unstoppable alien force. Yet, this is one of those rare films where the previews dont tell the full story-or even show the best bits. Cruise is very believable as a Major who is, to say the least, reluctant to join in battle. His character also represents the higher ups who are perfectly ok sending men to their deaths, but balk at any personal involvement. At first, he is not really a likable character; a whimpering, (if charming,) coward, just two steps shy of being an all out con artist. As the movie progresses and the deaths start piling up, we start seeing different sides to Cruises character and he grows through trauma and tragedy. Along his journey (which includes more than 300 deaths-thats close to a YEAR of dying everyday!) he finds unlikely allies, including a terrifically buff Emily Blunt, (she trained for months to get in shape for this movie) who may hold the key to not only ending the cycle, but winning the war. I doubt the references were intentional Easter Eggs, but this could have been the epic follow-up to EUROPA REPORT. In Europa, the main question was: is some kind of life possible on this planet? In Edge, the possibility has been answered and those creatures have found Earth. The creatures look similar in both movies, hide underneath the Earth and under water, and Edge even includes a scene that nearly mimics a scene in Europa, which I wont give away, because it could include spoilers. Of course, the big difference is that Europa was a small, but well done little thriller, while Edge is a massive blockbuster. Europa is also intelligent and intriguing, but I wouldnt call the experience exactly fun. Edge is fun. A hell of a lot of fun. Edge is based on a novel, so this is likely just a coincidence, and yet the two films have similar sub-texts and threads running through them. There is also a bit of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN in the mad utter chaos of the battle scenes which are also set on a beach. Still, what is the most impressive thing about Edge Of Tomorrow is that with all the high concept, complicated plot lines and spectacular special effects, (they are quite spectacular) the script never loses the smaller human story, even managing to incorporate quite a bit of humor. As to the rest of the cast, in addition to Cruise and Blunt, the film has some solid supporting roles for Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson and the usual group of colorful British battle-mates. https://youtube/watch?v=yUmSVcttXnI
Posted on: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 08:26:31 +0000
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