Great: 9.0

Rating: 9/10 (29 July 2019)

This really shouldn't have happened. Edge of Tomorrow started out as All You Need is Kill, and the first anyone saw of it was a fairly ridiculous-looking shot of Tom Cruise running towards the camera with a giant explosion in the background. The director didn't inspire confidence either (Doug Liman's prior big-budget film was Jumper. The less said, the better), and the premise (Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers) seemed domed to fail from the beginning. But it didn't, and what we got instead is a funny, uncommonly intellignt sci fi-action film that tells an engrossing story while never taking itself too seriously. The time-loop concept is used extremely well, never repeating footage. It knows that we've gotten the gist already, and to only show what we need to see. It's the rare blockbuster that gives its audience's intelligence the credit it deserves.