Edge of Tomorrow is entertaining, but not very memorable

Rating: 7/10 (7 June 2014)

If we can swallow the fact that Edge of Tomorrow is basically Groundhog Day with aliens, we will encounter an entertaining film with an ingeniously planned screenplay and excellent special effects. And even though that's not enough to make it something brilliant or very memorable, it works properly as a pleasant experience. Co- screenwriters Jez Butterworth, Christopher McQuarrie and John-Henry Butterworth have fun with the temporal loop concept, which allows them to kill the hero in many occasions, and at the same time brings him a kind of immortality which is explored with humor and enough logic in order to excuse the most improbable elements from the premise. And I estimate that that will be the main weak point from Edge of Tomorrow... some spectators will accept the ridiculous explanation about time travel, and other ones won't. I personally found it too forced, even though it brings some interesting dramatic levels to the film. Tom Cruise brings a weak performance in Edge of Tomorrow, because he feels listless and bland. I could never feel the intensity and conviction from his best performances; and it's not even necessary to compare it with his classic action roles in Mission: Impossible or Top Gun. It's enough with remembering the work he brought last year in Oblivion, a sci-fi film with multiple ideas taken from better movies; even there, Cruise showed much more life and passion. By the way, the description of Oblivion also applies to Edge of Tomorrow: a series of burrowed concepts (the temporal loop from Groundhog Day, the mechanic suits from Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, the overwhelming combat from Saving Private Ryan, the cyclic drama from the "Cause and Effect" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, etc.), but ready-made in a story with enough personality in order to earn an own identity, as long as we can excuse its most extreme ravings. In conclusion, Edge of Tomorrow deserves a moderate recommendation as an entertaining sci-fi film. However, it lacks of that "magical touch" in order to be something memorable.