Where Deja Vu Never Looked So Splendid

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2015)

It would be quite insincere to label "Edge of Tomorrow" one of the very best video-game adaptations ever produced, because it actually evolved from a Japanese graphic novel "All You Need is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, but you will be mesmerized by the movie's artistic integrity, the encapsulating structure and the subliminal function and affect, but the source material is what makes this film very special.
The story stars Tom Cruise as Major William Cage, a military officer from the future where our entire planet has waged war against an alien invasion in which they're known as Mimics who have dominated pretty much most of Europe. Not much of a fighter, Maj. Cage is an awkward PR guy whose patriotic contributions come in the forum of less interesting things like promoting how great the military life really is and recruiting new soldiers as replacements to those who have been killed in combat. When he rebuffs at the General Brigham's (Brendan Gleeson) command to take charge in the front-lines, he gets badly demoted to private with a meagre chance of surviving the amphibious take-over in Northern France.
A strange thing happened on Omaha Beach. The Mimics go on a horrifying and expensive ambush as they attack human forces, whose weaker arsenal of weapons consisting of a mechanized bodysuit is just not enough to take down the much more powerful Mimics. Cage manages takes down a lower-tier alien specie called an Alpha, but gets their blood on him, which whenever he dies, he relives the events which leads to the failed initiative. It's like watching "Groundhog Day" meets "Saving Private Ryan" in which Cage must repeat all his steps over and over again until he he can successfully turn the tables around in fighting this almost unbeatable war.
Sure it may have the rightful tools needed for another monotonous, mindless, money-swindling action flick. But I was surprised that "Edge of Tomorrow" is nothing like that at all. The fighting scenes are complimented nicely with some much needed humour with the mystery genre reserved in its place. The film virtually takes off as Cage seeks assistance from a tough, veteran Captain Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) with whom had the same time-repeating capabilities that Cage has in his possession. Rita toughens up Cage from a wimpy recruit to hardened fighter who might even bring this alien invasion to a close with no assistance. She'll even go as far as to deliver tough love on him in the worst ways possible whenever he's succumbing to grievous bodily harm during the process. With every day passes, Cage is getting stronger, smarter and more powerful enough to send these Mimics packing or being destroyed.
Of course for a good story to work, it should go beyond a solid checklist. Not to say that the script by Christopher McQuarrie and the Butterworth brothers compliments to the endless exciting action, but "Edge of Tomorrow" is still very formulaic and not only does it feel like "Groundhog Day" or another film with similar formula like "Source Code" with a very familiar ending to it. However, director Doug Liman manages to use his visual mastery effectively without trying to hold back the tension this movie provides and uses proper manipulative quirks whenever the scenes starts to repeat itself. For a PG-13 movie there's a plethora of off-screen violence. The video game version of this movie sees our hero sporting great engine. In the movie, it provides a stimulating take on a time-jumping military man and never changes the story around. And the lesson that by repeating yourself, you will get better through every baby step you take.