Come find me when you wake up

Rating: Null/10 (27 August 2014)

"Groundhog Day" meets "Starship Troopers" meets "Saving Private Ryan" in "Edge of Tomorrow". Directed by Doug Liman, the film stars Tom Cruise as Major William Cage, a public-relations officer within the ranks of the United Defence Force. A cowardly military man whose main function is to give pep talks at press conferences, Cage suddenly finds himself incessantly repeating the same day. This day takes place during a terrifying alien invasion.
What would you do if you were a coward forced to repeat, at the height of an alien invasion, the same day? Probably hide under a bed. But Cage is played by TOM FRICKIN' CRUISE, a ten inch matinée idol whose annual pass-time is SAVING THE PLANET. As such, Cage begins using his gift of immortality to kick alien butt. Like a video game avatar, Cage gains in skills and experience as he repeatedly dies, re-spawns and re-embarks out into his game world. His objective? Reach that big "bonus level" which, when conquered, ends the game and so the invasion.
"Edge of Tomorrow" pretends to be science fiction, but isn't really. The film's aliens are mostly unimaginative, and its action derivative. Because Cruise and Liman play things for laughs, though, the film works well. Like Cruise's best vehicles, "Edge" is self-depreciating, Cage emasculated and ridiculed for much of the movie. Even when Cage becomes superhuman, Liman is busy acknowledging the ridiculousness of the usual Hollywood heroics. Elsewhere the film draws from other fictional and historical sources. A character played by Brendan Gleeson evokes Winston Churchill, for example, the film's central battle recalls WW2's Operation Overlord, and various characters recall "Platoon" and "Full Metal Jacket". Bill Paxton even shows up as a soldier, recalling his role in James Cameron's "Aliens".
Whilst "Edge of Tomorrow's" aliens are wholly generic, Liman does manage one interesting idea. His aliens are feigning a weakness so as to sucker Earth into launching a single offensive operation (a bit like the Emperor's plan in "Return of the Jedi"). Once all of humanity's forces are committed, and in the same location, the aliens then spring their trap. This United Defence Force operation, which Cage participates in, mostly consists of humans bouncing about in (Heinlein/anime inspired) exo-suits.
Like "Groundhog Day", "Edge of Tomorrow's" second half revolves around an odd romance. Here Emily Blunt plays Sergeant Vrataski, a svelte woman who helps Cage slay xenomorphs. One touching moment finds Cage admitting to Vrataski that he's "never been able to get further in the game" and "have her survive as well". This is an interesting piece of drama - Cage forced to choose between saving the planet and saving his sultry co-star – which a better director would have milked, but nope. Liman ditches the idea and quickly moves on to his next set piece. As a result, the film's attempts at romance are mostly ineffectual. Based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's "All You Need is Kill."
7.9/10 – Worth two viewings.