Pleasant surprise

Rating: Null/10 (12 November 2014)

I wasn't terribly interested in this film when I first saw the trailers. Tom Cruise hadn't managed to convince me as an action star in years and even Emily Blunt couldn't raise my interest. But, eventually I ended up seeing it on DVD and I must admit that I should have gone and seen this in the movies.
We've seen plenty of these "groundhog day" type movies where time repeats itself and only a single man is aware of it. The trick in these movies is to show the same thing again and again while still keeping it interesting by changing how the protagonist goes around trying to alter the flow of circumstances. And this movie pulls it off beautifully. It keeps it pace and editing so quick and smooth that you always feel like things are moving forward, while they're quite literally not.
Cruise and Blunt were also another pleasant surprise, Cruise especially. Perhaps it's because this time Cruise doesn't try to play a born badass, which he no longer can pull off as convincingly as he did in his glory days. Rather he plays a media officer, who gets thrust into the middle of combat by a bad decision. Furthermore, he and Blunt have good chemistry together and it's nice to see a grizzled female war veteran instead of the usual fare.
Saying anything more would spoil the movie needlessly. Trust me when I say that its thoroughly entertaining experience and well worth watching for all fans of science fiction and action movies.