A Surprisingly Entertaining Movie

Rating: 8/10 (29 July 2019)

What a way to end a semester of good science fiction by watching Edge of Tomorrow. I remember seeing the trailer for this film during a Godzilla IMAX 3D screening, thinking it looked too much like a video game and that it looked so cliche. I didn't grasp the fact that it was like Groundhog Day meets Terminator, and the result was a great deal of fun.
First of all, this film has a good casting of leads/important characters, such as Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt (who I had not seen much of before this film) and Brendan Gleeson (who I LOVE in In Bruges). Some people hate Tom Cruise, and to that I say give the guy a chance with great roles under his belt such as the lead in Rain Man and a role in Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia which rightfully earned him an Oscar nomination. Emily Blunt is amazing as the "full metal b****" who does not give a damn, knocking out a soldier who nearly calls her by this name. And as for Gleeson, I guess he doesn't really do much, but I like him.
Going back to Tom Cruise, he plays an iconic spokesperson who has a high military rank, though he is more involved with advertising and wants little to do with actual battle. He is a coward who is sent on a journey to prove himself to be a very brave soldier.
The Groundhog Day aspect to this film provides a lot of laughs, focusing on funny ways that he dies early in the film and the way Emily Blunt's character kills him over and over again.
The premise of the film is kind of a stretch to believe, but then again this is science fiction; you either buy it or you don't. Cage is lucky enough to kill an "Alpha" with a claymore before dying, and the alpha's blood is splattered onto him and gives him the "ability" to reset the day as he dies. These aliens are unlike any we have seen before in alien invasion movies, looking like giant sea creatures with a type of "hair" that looks like the features of an anemone. Alphas are very rare amongst them, which are the ones that can reset the day, and their motivations are unknown, but they are a force that the world is fighting against. This is a very "us vs them" film promoting global unity to fight a threat.
You'll be pleasantly surprised with this gem; watch this film.
8/10
*This review is from 2015.