“Edge of Tomorrow”
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Charming spokesperson, Major William Cage, though not a “real” soldier, according to him, is sent to the front line in the war against an invading alien race on a suicide mission. Once there he is swiftly killed in battle by an unusual looking alien. However, he awakens to find that he is repeating the same day… over and over. He meets Vrataski, who seems to understand what happened to him and helps him train to hopefully defeat the alien invasion.
So, yeah, this is an entertaining mainstream sci fi/action interpretation of the Manga series “All You Need is Kill” by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Tom Cruise, as Cage, gives the audience a very nice introduction as a used-car-salesman-type character, someone who is charming and a little slimy, but knows where his value is, where it is not, and is happy with that. Nice to see the details in his physical appearance and body language as his character develops through his experiences “looping.” Emily Blunt, as Vrataski, is a strong, solid, no nonsense character, through most of the film, unfortunately the story comes around to her being Cage’s romantic interest and a reward for winning, rather than a true partner. Bill Paxton is always worth watching.
The nice thing about mainstream films is they pretty much deliver what the mainstream audience wants. The problem is that they are rarely exceptional because they rarely push boundaries. This is no exception. Though I did enjoy this to curl up and disengage my brain for a couple hours, and I did enjoy the Computer effects, and, yes, the violence, I was disappointed that it needed a Hollywood happy ending.
I gave this 3 1/2 cups of hot tea. It is successful in engaging and entertaining the audience.
1/2