The Perfect Blockbuster

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 2016)

This a stellar, stellar action movie.
If you don't like this film, you're probably not a fan of action, sci-fi, or well-crafted stories. It's thrilling, emotional, well-paced, thoughtful, and dynamic.
The main 'gimmick' is that every time our hero, Captain Cage, gets killed, he gets to relive the same day. What day is that? After refusing to go on the front lines and threatening the crazy general who tried to force him there, he is captured and put on a high-risk squad as a private. He wakes up every day in London in chains, with a man yelling in his ear.
What is his squad for? Landing on the beaches of France- yes, there are more than a couple WWII shoutouts here- to stop an alien invasion. The design of the aliens is fairly average- they look like better versions of those things from the second two Matrix movies- but their society is fascinating. The humans won a victory at Verdun thanks to Sergeant Rita Vraski, and are now looking to expand on it with a full-scale invasion.
But the invasion goes badly. The aliens seem to know exactly what the humans are doing. Cage, having no experience, is killed, but before he dies, he gets the blood of the alien he killed on him, and gets to relive the days over and over again. Rita seems to know about his powers, and she tells him to come with her. The next cycle, he does, and he finds out she used to have his powers, but lost them when she was wounded- but not killed- and got a blood transfusion.
Sound confusing? It's not. The film does a fantastic job at saying just enough to let you know exactly what's going on without devolving into Wachowski-like speeches. If you ever get confused, just think of it as the Groundhog Day plot, only with more guns.
It is a fairly complex movie, one more fit for a novel than the big screen, which may explain its relative underperformance at the box office. If it weren't for Tom Cruise, it would have grossed less money. I greatly respect Mr. Cruise for using his star power to get this thing off the ground. He has my thanks.
I had some concerns about how they could translate the premise from something like Groundhog Day, which was a romantic comedy, to a serious action drama. I needn't have worried. They know exactly what they're doing. Because they don't stop for ten minutes to explain every little thing, you might miss the fact that they solved more problems than an overworked math teacher. It's all so seamless. The writing in this is really good. It's not the kind of flashy writing that gets you an Oscar, but it's the kind that gives you such a satisfying, mindblowing action movie. They actually play the premise better than Groundhog Day. GD is beloved and for good reason, but it has some pacing problems. This doesn't. It doesn't have to reach or contrive to be effective. For example, a sergeant gives Cage a speech about the importance of war and sacrifice. At first, it's merely typical army stuff. But you when you hear it again and again, having learned some new revelations each time, it rings more and more hallow. It's a very nice touch.
They also play it for great relationship drama. My favorite scene in the film comes when they stop into an abandoned house in the British countryside. Rita wants to fly a chopper, but he tries to convince her to take a car instead. Later, after Cage nurses her shoulder wound, Rita is ready to get going, but Cage tries to convince her to stay. At first, you think Cage just doesn't want to see her or hurt, or that he is trying to make a move on her, but then he reveals to her- and the audience- that they have been through this scenario before, and one of them always ends up dying. It's one of the most powerful moments in an action film ever.
I could go and gush about this film further, but I don't want to spoil its intense, twisting plot. Instead I'll simply say that the film is well-acted, well-shot, and the huge budget is very clearly on screen. The ending wouldn't work in a different movie, but here, it just feels right. If you love sci-fi action movies but wish they weren't stupid, here's your film. Enjoy. Then go watch it again. I know I will.