Edge of Tomorrow
EDGE OF TOMORROW (aka LIVE. DIE.
REPEAT.)Â (12)
D: Doug Liman
Warner/Village Roadshow/Ratpac-Dune (Erwin Stoff, Tom
Lassally, Jeffrey Silver, Gregory Jacobs & Jason Hoffs)
USA 🇺🇸 2014
113 mins
Science Fiction/Action/Adventure
W: Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth &
John-Henry Butterworth [based on the book "All You Need Is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka]
DP: Dion Beebe
Ed: James Herbert & Laura Jennings
Mus: Christophe Beck
Tom Cruise (Maj. Bill Cage), Emily Blunt (Sgt. Rita
Vrataski), Bill Paxton (Sgt. Farell), Brendan Gleeson (Gen. Brigham)
It may not have reaped the box office receipts
that the studio may have hoped for, but it's failings are very much due to a poor marketing campaign rather than an inferior piece of filmmaking. In fact, if you're looking for some
action/sci-fi entertainment, you can't do much better in recent years than this film.
The plot is possibly easier to follow as it
unravels than it is to explain, based on a Japanese manga the story is set in the near future when alien forces have invaded Europe and all that stands between them and victory is the
world's armed forces. Decorated Major Bill Cage, (Tom Cruise) declines a duty which he feels is a suicide mission and is subsequently busted rank to private and tarnished as a
deserter, forced to participate in the mission which is basically a high-tech update on the D-Day landings, with soldiers in high tech battle suits storming the French beaches only to
be obliterated by the alien race.Â
Cage however, experiences contact with a member of
the alien species which allows him to live the day over and over again, ad infinitum, until he can work out a winning strategy over the deadly invasion. He finds help from a female
officer who experienced similar events in a previous battle against the aliens and together they attempt to form a plan to defeat them for good.
It may sound like a sci-fi twist on Groundhog Day,
but it's a uniquely original piece of work, brilliantly directed by Doug Liman, whose previous films include 'The Bourne Identity' and it's easily one of the best edited films over
the course of the last year, with a good balance of comedy, drama and even a dash of romance amongst all the carnage.
It's a huge shame that the marketing strategy for
this movie proved to be such a damp squib, it certainly deserved a bigger audience.
8/10
