After an alien race invades Europe, the world unites in a last stand against their advancing forces. With advanced technology, speed and ruthless aggression, humankind has never witnessed such a devastating enemy. William Cage (Tom Cruise) is a senior military officer who is inexperienced in front-line war. After a disagreement with a superior officer (Brendan Gleeson), he is deployed against his will into combat. Cage is introduced to his new team (who all dislike him) and is forced to battle alongside them during a massacre where everyone dies. But as soon as Cage dies he finds himself starting over in a time loop, repeating the same mission. He goes through the same day, advancing his skills and knowledge of the attack every time, before being killed and going back to the start. But during his time-loop, Cage encounters a hero of the war, Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), a soldier who may just hold the key to Cage’s unique condition.
Tom Cruise returns with an action-adventure based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s novel All You Need Is Kill. Scriptwriters Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth have done a remarkable job adapting this ‘groundhog day’ tale into one of the summer’s must-see movies, full of stunning spectacle, high-octane adventure and even a hilarious level of comedy.
Director Doug Liman brings his considerable know-how to this project and helms a movie that knows how to hit every one of its marks. Given the repetitive nature of the story-line, he instantly knows when to speed things up to never make any scene feel laborious or tiresome. The pacing is superb and this propels the story through great levels of excitement and adventure.
Tom Cruise continues to impress and tackles a role we don’t often see him play. As the movie starts, Cruise is a slick ad-man who has moved up the ranks in the Army without ever going into combat. This makes him scared of front-line conflict and is not particularly adept with guns, so Cruise certainly has fun playing up to that model. Having him as a kind of rookie-soldier also allows him some great comedic lines and scenes – something that Edge of Tomorrow utilises very well. Ultimately, this is a film about war but Cruise and everyone involved knows exactly how to balance the action out with choice placement of comedy – something that also emphasises the bigger, more serious story at hand.
Cruise really is sensational here and hands in his best turn since Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The biggest star in Hollywood brings a level of professionalism and quality to every project he tackles and Edge of Tomorrow is no different. He is also matched by the stunningly gorgeous Emily Blunt, who enjoys her first action-lead. As Rita, she becomes the embodiment of human endeavour and courage during these times of war. It’s a daunting task but Blunt manages to really give Rita a personality and she more than handles the action quota. The pairing of Cruise and Blunt works wonders and is a large reason why the film works so well.
With breathtaking effects, inventive use of time-travel and some cracking set-pieces across London and Paris that give these two iconic cities their moment in the sun, Edge of Tomorrow is a blockbuster with heart and style. Easily the best blockbuster of the year so far, Edge of Tomorrow should not be missed and is a shining example that the traditional ‘summer blockbuster’ is far from dead.
