Good stuff

Rating: 7/10 (6 September 2014)

Good Groundhog Day concept, set in a European war against invading aliens.
It started out undercooked. We got a quick exposition by network news montage, then a really implausible dilemma for the hero, which was made worse by an unbelievably relaxed military base on the eve of a D-Day style invasion.
Lots of details got me thinking that would never happen, never! At this point it felt like the whole thing was held together with sticky tape.
The invasion sequence is Saving Private Ryan all over again, but not so much. And then ... the concept kicks in, and it becomes a great story, There's plenty of humour, but it's all gogogo action and the pace hardly flags. The aliens are menacing, better than Starship Trooper.
The acting was good, although I think Gleeson was miscast, and the rag-tag troops are a bit lightweight. The hero goes from glib coward to determined saviour, but there's nothing to show why (rather than how) he clicks into action.
I know some things have to be glossed over, but there's no explanation of how the rogue troops sneaked off base with a hulking great airplane for the final mission.
So I mark it down to 7 for that, but still very enjoyable.