Thrilling?

Rating: 4/10 (7 July 2014)

Tom Cruise has had an amazing career. Lately, he has embraced action films, and we have gotten some good entertainment. "Mission IV" was very exciting. "Jack Reacher" was not bad, either, and how can we forget his "War of The Worlds"? Sadly, "Edge" leaves plenty of disappointment in his deja vu story. The whole thing is not a complete mess, but there is much to leave disenchanted.
The first thing you notice is that movie budgets are escalating so out of control that all we are getting are faded cinematography. What is happening? "Waterworld" and "Mad Max" looked like real movies. I say leave all the artsy tendencies behind and give us something that is not straining our eyesight. CGI must be much better now, and we don't need to hide those imperfections.
The second thing is the excessive amount of "time travel". We get it. He is sent back and must learn from his experiences. Half way through the film, we are exhausted because too much time has been invested on this gimmick. Some people have equaled this movie experience to a video game. Well, if you enjoy repetition, this is the holy grail of action movies. Otherwise, take a few bathroom breaks.
There are some good elements here. Emily Hunt is surprisingly effective as an action heroine, tough, good looking, smart, and more than a match for Cruise's confused army man. In one of the film's twists we discover that she's not the world's savior, more of a support system, an inspiration, and that's kind of a pity because she definitely shines here. I have loved her before, but she's an action star here.
There are some funny lines, and they keep you from falling asleep, just not enough, and those aliens must have stopped by the concession stand because they're out of control. It's hard to appreciate what they are capable of doing, and threatening is not something that comes to mind. Mostly, annoying! We're hoping they were truly defeated, and that we don't get a sequel.