More Paxton, please

Rating: 9/10 (5 July 2015)

I have become a little disenchanted with movies of the 2010s, especially these summer popcorn movies featuring aliens and tons of CG. I knew I had to see this because it starred one of my all time favorites, Tom Cruise. I think he gets unfairly judged as a movie actor because he is a star (plus he is kind of weird).
Anyway, I hoped that this flick was in the style of the excellent remake of War of the Worlds, coincidentally also starring Cruise. When I saw that they ripped off Groundhog Day, I was really let down. Luckily, I perked right up again very quickly. Yes, they do use the basic premise of that classic but this is much more than trying to find a gimmick for what is essentially something we seen a thousand times before: Man vs. Alien.
Let me get to my favorite part which is the performance of Bill Paxton. It's the first time that he and Cruise have worked together, as far as I know and I can't believe they have such good chemistry. Every scene they are together is pure comic gold. I wish that they had a little more screen time as a pair because after Paxton is gone, the movie takes a more tedious turn. Not that it gets boring but I don't think that the scenes between Emily Blunt and Cruise are that interesting. I was thoroughly disappointed when she shows up on screen. When she appears and is killed, I knew that it wasn't the end for her. Wouldn't that have been a cool twist, though. No, no. We can't have that.
Fortunately, we are spared the traditional love story but the movie gets bogged down in the scenes with her, Cruise and that annoying scientist. I don't know how he figured out how the alien could be defeated and the plot doesn't allow a thorough explanation.
Now for the worst part. The ending. Cruise loses his powers and has to convince his comrades to go fight this thing. The movie cheats by having them convinced in a matter of minutes but that's not the biggest problem. There are continuity problems as well. Again, I can forgive that. But when those black eyes appear again, I thought to myself: "They screwed up". I you haven't seen the movie, judge for yourself.
Anyway, my rant is over.