Edge of Tomorrow

Let me start by saying that I am not the biggest of Tom Cruise fans.  I have always believed that any of his movies would be far better if someone – anyone – else replaced him in the lead.  There may be a few exceptions to the rule though.  And Edge of Tomorrow (Surprise! Surprise!!) will feature in my list of Tom Cruise movies wherein he actually does well and I was really glad.

About 3 years back, we saw a movie called Source Code which was probably the first instance of Science Fiction meeting Groundhog Day (1993).  Edge of Tomorrow meets Source Code, adds the required flavor of an Alien Invasion, picks up the pace several notches and presents the possibility of a movie that a good friend (very confidently) claims will go cult.

I am not sure of the cult part but EOT is definitely a superb movie to make part of your weekend.  Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is an officer of the United States Army who has not seen a single day of active duty.  He specializes in communication.  So, when he is suddenly sent to the front, to lead an alien invasion, he is of course petrified and decides to disobey a direct order.  Not a great idea when you are in the Army.

That evening, he finds himself downgraded to the level of a Private and somewhere in England, preparing for an attack.  With little or no preparation and after a lot of ridicule, he finds himself face to face with an Alien – an alpha – and they kill each other.  Game over? Hardly!!! This is the beginning.  Cage is thrown into a time loop and it takes him a while to realize that he is in one.

Anything more and I would probably be giving away too much.  I am sure the story will intrigue you enough to make an effort and get across to the theatre.  The effects are brilliant and join a slew of movies this year to earn that coveted nomination.  The creation of the Alpha and Omega of the alien species will make your spine curl for sure.  There are a couple of great scary sequences as well.

Emily Blunt as Full Metal Bitch aka Rita Vrataski is superb.  But what will actually get you is the narration by Doug Liman.  For about 15-20 minutes you may be left tearing your hair apart in an attempt to get your head around the story.  Like an exasperated member of the audience said, “I can repeat the dialogues myself”.

But that is exactly what makes Edge of Tomorrow really good.  It takes a lot of courage to “Live. Die. Repeat” (And may the movie should have been named that) not just for the sake of a story but also for the audience.  Full marks to Liman for really getting the story to life.  8 on 10 for this must watch movie for the weekend.  I loved it.  I hope you will too.  IMAX it if you can.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3591679257/?ref_=tt_ov_vi