BETTER than I was expecting!

Rating: 10/10 (9 June 2014)

I saw the trailer of this, but was expecting another campy "Independence Day" trying to be too funny, "War of the Worlds" that tried to be too serious or "District 9" that was FX for FX sake. I probably would have not gone, but my date said her daughter saw it and loved it.
Wow, was I surprised! The characters make the movie. Cruise's less-than-perfect, frustrated but determined "Cage" quickly got me rooting for him. Emily Blunt's serious "Rita" was a great mirror image protagonist.
The special effects were so clean and well integrated that they didn't overpower the story or become center stage. Instead, they added to bringing in me into making the unreal premise more real.
In the end, this is probably the coolest sci-fi love story I have ever seen. It is nice to see that Hollywood can still produce something other than the formulaic trash that usually keeps me away from the theaters. Warner Brothers, thanks for putting $178 million on the table to make this!