SOURCE CODE meets GROUNDHOG DAY by way of Philip K. Dick

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2014)

EDGE OF TOMORROW (2014) *** Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton, Jonas Armstrong, Tony Way, Kick Gurry, Franz Drameh, Drgomir Mrsic, Charlotte Riley, Masayoshi Haneda, Terence Maynard, Noah Taylor. SOURCE CODE meets GROUNDHOG DAY by way of Philip K. Dick could have been the pitch for this hybrid sci-fi vehicle for Cruise as a callow, cowardly military PR man in the midst of a cosmic calamity: invading malevolent aliens hellbent on destroying mankind hurl him into a never-ending time-loop video game-like reset each time he's killed. The crux is to relive his death for the common good and remember every step of the doomed battle to ensure a better strategy with time running out and the only one who will listen to him is a warrior soldier (a game Blunt) who is a kindred spirit of sorts. Mixed with a dark sense of humor sprinkled amidst the carnage and somewhat predictable trappings of the sub genre yet engaging thanks to its star and a fast- moving, quick-witted screenplay adaptation by veteran scribe Christopher McQuarrie and Jez & John-Henry Butterworth based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel "All You Need Is Kill" and director Doug Liman's swift momentum of brain and brawn in equal measures.