True Blockbuster

Rating: 8/10 (2 June 2014)

Edge of Tomorrow has anything you could ask for in a Sci-Fi blockbuster. It has robots, aliens, big guns, car chases, and even Tom Cruise; mashed together into an exciting high concept story. While these elements aren't completely original, the film put these things together with plenty of personality, thus it is predictably all fun. It would have been nicer if it explored a little more deeper within its intriguing ideas to end up being a fully epic blockbuster, but Edge of Tomorrow is still quite the adventure that goes beyond the typical excess of explosions that the audience have been swallowing these days.
The main concept is pretty intriguing indeed. It definitely reminds you of Groundhog Day or Source Code, except it takes place in the middle of an alien invasion. This idea excellently works when it tries to make a joke out of it. The story doesn't really flesh out anything beyond the concept enough, so it's best to just play around with the repetition. When the film finally takes the logic of the loop seriously, the film lost a little of its enthusiasm and sometimes skims the details into quick montages. The mission doesn't make itself sound that interesting, and it helps that the movie fills it with gigantic weapons and car chases to gloss it over with large scale excitement. There is no denying how awesome the action scenes are, but no matter how indestructible the heroes look, there is still a sense when you don't want them to die and go back to the very start of their checkpoint again. Just the basic suspense these sequences needed. The direction moves consistently, even when the pacing has to go through several loops, its decent editing makes sure these scenes aren't as complex as they supposed to be. Witty screen writing also makes things absorbing.
Even the arc of the main characters aren't totally fresh. Cage is basically a man out of luck who is hooked up with various troubles then suddenly meets a much competent companion to develop a team which happens to be the only hope of mankind. In spite that it feels a little stale, how it depicts these misfits somehow becomes the special asset of the film. The actors have given everything these characters deserve. Tom Cruise hasn't been fun lately, his attempt of being a much gruff anti-hero mostly kills the momentum of his last two films. Here, he finally succeeds on what he was trying to do back then, by simply realizing the fact that he is just as ordinary as the people around him, who can get hurt and killed all of the sudden. He also bursts charisma which makes his connection with his co-stars a lot more likable.
There could be a larger universe behind the story that needs a deeper exploration, but it's a breath of fresh air seeing a blockbuster attaining more on story building than world building. Edge of Tomorrow is straightforwardly fun, although it's not exactly perfect, whatever the film has glossed over made the experience even better. Especially the ending which is ought to be a flaw, ends with something which turns out to be one of the greatest things I've see in a blockbuster this year. The movie is simply charming, a priceless kind of charm that seems to belong to another decade that we didn't know it hasn't wane out yet. If you don't know what I am talking about then it's alright. Just let me sum it all up for you already: Edge of Tomorrow is a good time at the movies.