Even better than I expected, and I expected quite a bit

Rating: 8/10 (15 June 2014)

I had expected "Edge of Tomorrow" to be good based on a certain level of buzz I'd heard (something I typically try to avoid since I prefer to go into the theater with an objective eye). But what I didn't see coming, was for it to exceed what expectations I did have. This is way more than an action SF film.
Indeed, this is as much a science fiction mystery/war drama as anything. The story has plenty of action to help sell it for international audiences but the plot development is clever and subverts expectations resulting from audience familiarity with Groundhog Day. How it subverts those expectations would be a spoiler but suffice to say that writer, Christopher McQuarrie, builds a very sophisticated approach to the time loop concept that Groundhog Day never explored.
Cruise carries the film with a performance that reminded me of his efforts in Vanilla Sky (probably his best acting ever) and Minority Report. He has to evolve as a character through the course of the film and does so believably.
Of course, Cruise has had a series of exceptional outings over the last few years with MI:3, Valkyrie, MI: Ghost Protocol, Jack Reacher, and Oblivion. Those well-considered script choices over the last decade (with the exception of Lions For Lambs and Knight and Day) are reason enough to check out EoT. But if you need another excuse: Emily Blunt. She and Cruise develop a special chemistry despite the compressed time-frame the movie has to work inside of.
The dramatic elements were well written and acted, the SF mystery components were air tight, the time loop aspects were masterfully executed, and the boy/girl story was surprisingly poignant.
Then there was the action. What I especially liked about these sequences were that they moved the story along instead of being the typical Hollywood action set pieces that play out nonsensically in recent films like Transformers [# take your pick], Iron Man 3, The Hobbit: DoS, or Godzilla. Rather, here we see battle scenes in a war and these scenes are necessary to advance the plot (rather than bring it to a halt).
A final thought; it's not giving anything away to say that the Cruise character, Cage, dies several times during the course of the story. Those deaths are NOT funny and many are tragic. But for some reason, several immature people in the theater audience laughed out loud at those moments, even though they were never played for laughs. If you have not seen the film, I recommend it highly but please don't laugh in inappropriate places in the film. Other people will think you're an imbecile. Thanks in advance and enjoy!