Inventive science-fiction action delivers the thrills

Rating: 8/10 (7 September 2015)

Edge of Tomorrow stars Tom Cruise as William Cage, a military officer sent with the U.S Special Forces to stop a terrifying alien invasion that threatens the human race. Within the matter of minutes, Cage is killed in battle only to unexpectedly wake up at the beginning of the day where you he started before the battle. When he discovers this amazing power to reset the day, he ends up getting himself killed repeatedly and restarting the day multiple times to learn how the stop the invasion and get everything right. Emily Blunt plays Rita, one of Cage's comrades who assists him in the mission against the alien onslaught.
Directed by Doug Limon who produced the Bourne series, with the exception the fourth installment with Jeremy Renner, Edge of Tomorrow is a rare science-fiction actioner that manages to come up with something original, which not many sci-fi flicks nowadays do. Based on the tag line "Live, Die, Repeat", this film plays as a cross between Independence Day (1996) and Groundhog Day (1993) with the main character fighting against an army of aliens, while carrying the ability to restart the day over and over. Tom Cruise's character does die quite a bit in this movie. Halfway through the film, we experience a montage of his character and Emily Blunt's character training for the invasion, whenever Cruise makes a mistake Blunt would pull her gun and shoot him so he could wake up start over. This happens countless times and although it does get a bit repetitive after a while as you watch some of the same scenes countless times, the idea is nonetheless interesting. The special effects are fantastic and I can definitely say the same for the visual effects. The CGI on the aliens are incredible and the battle scenes are beautifully shot.
Edge of Tomorrow can easily be called one of the best sci-fi films of this decade so far. I was very pleased with this movie, not just because of its special effects and visuals, but also because it expresses an original and inventive idea.