Solid but bleak - glad to reach the end

Rating: 7/10 (10 June 2014)

It's technically proficient, has a lot of interesting ideas, is a smart film with occasional humor that delivers in many areas. Very good...and yet...
I staggered out of the theater feeling like I'd been run over by a train. If this is entertainment, then I have to find something else to do with my time. Extremely dark, even though it wasn't gratuitous. Is this the signature of today's movies, that I feel worse coming out than when I went in?
Cruise gives a superb performance, with a wide range of emotions. From the first scenes, we're with him, a smart and witty guy thrust into horrible situations that are over his head. But Emily Blunt is resoundingly one-note. She's great at anger, determination, scorn. She's driven. But she's not magnetic. If she'd shown another side for even a few frames, I would have sensed some depth, would have found her interesting. As is, she was as intriguing as one of their battle suits, moving around a lot and killing everything in sight but basically just hardware.