Time travel and action combined perfectly!

Rating: 9/10 (28 May 2014)

Everyday Cage wakes up and has to re earn the support and trust of his comrades, as well as remember what went wrong last time round on the battlefield. Similarly to 50 First Dates, we see how a first impression with a stranger can change a relationship, and with teamwork essential in battle, this is Cage's primary challenge. Rita (Emily Blunt) and Master Sergeant Farell (Bill Paxton) are particularly unforgiving and difficult to win over.
Similarly to Butterfly Effect, each time he changes approach, the effect he wants carries the risk of side effects.
This film combines time travel and action more effectively than anything I've seen before. The 2 exist in perfect harmony, in contrast to say, the Terminator series, which will always pop up as an all-time great for time travel action films, but uses the time travel only in its openings, then leaves the rest of the films to be action films.
Edge of Tomorrow sees Cage (Tom Cruise) repeatedly attempt to win a battle, during which, if he dies, he is re awakened and given another chance. It has right amount of humour to entertain briefly, then let us focus on the serious mission the characters are engaged in.
We are cleverly left wondering what we've missed, as the film isn't clear how many attempts at this day Cage makes - what happens on the days in between, has he tried this before, what happened last time he tried? All the while, we also see notable, gradual improvements to Cage's combat skills, thanks to the help of the film's other hero, arguably the "real" hero, Rita, in turn improving the film's action. We feel the film has done well to pace out his training along with the character's development.
Emily Blunt's performance drives the film, her toughness and focus being a perfect match for her counterpart, a character who begins as a poor soldier. Her no- nonsense approach to Cage is somehow humorous, while simultaneously serious, in terms of achieving the mission objective.
Disappointment will be our lack of knowledge of the enemy - the humans don't tell us much about their enemy except that they are at war, and the name they have given them - mimics. The film opens with news reporting the attacks - I would rather have seen the mimic attacks myself than hear about it secondhand from the news reporters, and maybe seen them out of action more than we did.
We are also left feeling the character is at little risk - if Cage dies, he starts again, similar to a video game with infinite lives. Less risk can mean less reason to care if he gets it right this time.
Must watch movie!
Michael Newton
Cameras Lie