Get up, maggot!!!!

Rating: 8/10 (25 October 2014)

An alien race has hit the Earth and has destroyed most of Europe. It appears that they are unbeatable by any military unit in the world.
Major William Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what appears to be a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself thrown into a time loop, forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again.
But with each battle, Cage becomes able to attack the aliens with increasing skill, alongside Rita Vrataski.
And, as Cage and Vrataski take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy, and closer to each other.....
After seeing this movie, its easy to see why this failed to set the box offence alight. It's not based on a popular comic book hero, it's not part of a franchise, it's not a young adult book, and its source material is highly original and pretty complex, so it's not your usual summer fare.
But blimey, its so refreshing to see something so original, so funny, and so involving have such a prolific release and treated with the respect it needs, and also respecting the audience.
Cruise hasn't been this good in years, here he's not playing the typical hero he has done forever, in fact, until the middle of the second act, he's a bit of a wimp who tries to talk his way out of everything.
But then we go back to the point where he wakes up, and for a good 30 minutes, it's hilarious, laugh out loud funny at times, and Cages frustration very time he knows he's going to buy it, is just priceless.
The second act is the strongest part of the film, and even though it does feel like its riffing on Groundhog Day, and Source Code,mother way its handles is very different and intricate to the narrative.
Blunt is okay, but her hard woman does grate toward the end of the film, and Cruises grin in the last shot is priceless, as if he's thinking 'just one more time'.
Its a brilliant movie, worth watching more than once, my only gripe is that Cage didn't smack the soldier who kept waking him up.