Loved it!

Rating: 9/10 (5 June 2014)

Summer blockbusters have a degree of sameness to them. They are big, loud, comic book sourced, star studded, and graphic heavy, with billions of dollars of marketing muscle ensuring audience interest. But now and then, something like the Edge of Tomorrow comes, reaffirming Hollywood's creativity, intelligence, wit and above all- ability to give the audience a good time.
Live. Die. Repeat.
These three words beautifully sum up the time twisting plot of Edge of Tomorrow. You die, you wake up, relive the same day, only to die again and repeat the cycle. In this Groundhog Day meeting Starship Troopers adaptation, the world has been invaded by a race of seemingly unstoppable spidery aliens called mimics (their look lifted straight from the Matrix). They are an intelligent breed, being called mimics because of their ability to learn and copy human actions, but for destructive convenience, they are shown to have a hive mentality with a central brain that processes their actions. After being at the receiving end for a long time, earth forces score a victory at Verdun. The enemy seems to be on the defensive as human forces aim for a final offensive D-Day style at Normandy. Is it our endgame or theirs?
"I died within five minutes of landing at that beach, along with every other soldier."
Cruise is center stage to yet another war of the worlds, initially as a PR spin doctor, William Cage, who incurs the wrath of a commanding officer to end up in the battle front-line. The offensive, it seems is doomed as the aliens seem to have been expecting them. Moments after landing Cruise dies, but not before being sprayed by some alien blue blood. This action forces him to go into a time loop, and much like a video game character, he keeps reliving the same day again and again. Each time though, he is able to use his memories of the battle to survive longer. No one believes his story though, except ace solder Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), who has also been affected in the same way earlier. Together Cage and Rita must locate and destroy the alien brain to end the war.
Repetition is the worst thing a movie can have. Watching the same scene, with minor variations over and over is a tedious affair. Director Doug Liman addresses this by showing just enough of a scene to establish the loop, and then moves ahead to scenes where the story begins to change, thus ensuring a rapid pace to the story, and plenty of action, which despite the fact being repeated, does not feel repetitive . It also allows for oodles of macabre humor. People who complain than Tom Cruise always lives will have a field day here. Cruise dies hundreds of times, each one more unexpected, and even funnier than the previous one. At the same time, his budding romantic relationship with Rita is treated with subtlety and thought. For him, it is a growing connection, but for her every day is a new day, like Drew Barrymore in Fifty First Dates, and so she herself kills him many times over. The visual effects are fantastic, and the ending, though generic, is still satisfactory.
Humanity owes its existence to Tom Cruise, or so it seems. Once an actor who used to try out diverse roles, today is reduced to just an action hero. It is really hard to keep a count of the number of times he has saved the world. In Edge of Tomorrow though, Cruise is in top form, and for once not taking himself too seriously, but for a change lacing his still charming personality with loads of hilarity. Emily Blunt, Brendon Gleeson and Bill Paxton play great supporting acts.
I like any movie that can make me laugh. Edge of Tomorrow did, despite its oh so serious doomsday scenario. it treads the fine line between entertainment and intelligence oh so very well, for that it gets my recommendation. Go on, watch it- 9/10