It covers familiar ground and is a bit gimmicky, but it still very much succeeds on its own merits

Rating: 7/10 (12 July 2019)

Soldier Cage (Tom Cruise) is forced to fight on the frontline (very much against his will) in a war against an alien race. Cage gets killed during the battle, but also discovers that he is able to reset the day every time he dies. Cage struggles to convince his fellow soldiers of what has happened to him and what he knows, but manages to find an ally in another soldier Rita (Emily Blunt). With their different skill sets they set to work in trying to defeat the alien race once and for all...
Edge Of Tomorrow has clearly lifted its central concept from Groundhog Day and set it in a post apocalyptic era where humans are fighting aliens (which again is nothing new). Aside from the gimmicky nature of the plot, I think what makes the film work is mainly down to the way the story is constructed and how it all unfolds; at first we're in the same boat as Cage - confused about what is happening and searching for answers. It soon starts to become like a puzzle and each time Cage dies and resets the day we are gradually able to start piecing things together and more and more of the story starts to unravel and step by step Rita and Cage get closer to achieving their goal.
One thing I did find interesting about this film was the way Cruise's character is written; usually when watching Cruise's films he usually has leading man status and generally plays characters with a degree of heroism. At the start of the film, he is something of a pacifist and is very much against violence (which is not something we're used to seeing from Cruise in a lot of his action films). Of course, he becomes skilled later in the film, but it was interesting to see Cruise play a character that had been written in such a manner. On the other hand, Emily Blunt's character is the opposite; tough as nails and rather no nonsense in approach - she remains this way throughout which was something of a blessing as I was worried that we might have had another 'sappy romance' on our hands.
Edge Of Tomorrow is a good looking film with some neat special effects and director Doug Liman keeps everything tight and focused; naturally it's a rinse and repeat approach, but new developments to the story are realised on each repeated day so it never becomes dull (this was part of the reason that Groundhog Day worked as well). Out of the supporting cast then it's only Bill Paxton who's really given anything to do and he once again puts in a very strong performance.
Despite the fact that this is Groundhog Day set against the backdrop of war with an alien race, Edge Of Tomorrow still manages to hold its own and is an entertaining film with a decent story and enough elements for it to be able to stand up to scrutiny on its own merits. Not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but an enjoyable film nonetheless.