'Edge Of Tomorrow' Is One Of Tom Cruise's Best Movies In Years
That may come as a surprise.
If you've seen any trailers for the film, you may have done an eyeroll as the film has the feel of 1993's "Groundhog Day." The premise sees Tom Cruise's character, Major William Cage, relive the same day over and over again until he can find a way to defeat a threatening alien menace.
The film is based on Japanese sci-fi novel "All You Need Is Kill" and cost Warner Bros. approximately $175 million, so the studio needs this to be a big hit.
Here's why the movie sounds like a must-see.
The Wrap: "For a film about repetition, "Edge of Tomorrow" never feels tired or familiar." Variety: "The scribes have solved the problem of how not to make the film play like a repetitive slog; aided enormously by James Herbert and Laura Jennings' snappy, intuitive editing, they tell their story in a breezy narrative shorthand (and at times, sleight-of-hand), transforming what must surely be an unbelievably tedious gauntlet for our hero into a deft, playful and continually involving viewing experience." Total Film: "The time-loop works. Far from being the multiplex equivalent of a trek to the laundry, the spin-cycle lends a fresh tilt to the time-worn Us vs. Them genre, with Liman and Cruise serving humour and invention to ensure each rewind veers into territory as unexpected as it is familiar." It's funny with laughs from both Cruise and Bill Paxton. Warner Bros.Cinemablend: "The script crackles with humor and variations, making Cage's (Cruise) deaths and resurrections as funny as they are shocking." Film School Rejects: "Liman's movie moves fast, and not only because it has a ton of set pieces, but also a sharp sense of humor … Bill Paxton gets some huge laughs." The design of the aliens look awesome. Variety: "The excellent production package is distinguished by the expertly designed Mimics, which resemble overgrown, radioactive crustaceans that got caught in an oil spill." This is one of Cruise's most fun and enjoyable performances in a long time. Warner Bros.Empire: "This is his strongest performance in some time and he revels in the character's development. He starts out as a smug, smirking, weaselly coward, not above trying to blackmail an implacable general (Brendan Gleeson)." Film School Rejects: "Most A-listers would demand a more conventionally heroic character from the start, but not Cruise. He plays up Cage's cowardice whenever he gets the chance, to both great comedic and dramatic effect." Emily Blunt is great, too. Warner Bros. The Playlist: "She is a rich, beautifully realized female character, strong and smart and sensitive, which is already a welcome change from the summer movies we've seen thus far, where women are mostly seen falling from tall buildings and hiding from giant monsters." The one disappointment from multiple reviews? The ending isn't anything too special. The Wrap: "If there's anything disappointing about the film, it involves the ending; it's a defensible one, but everything leading up to it fooled me into expecting something smarter or more daring." The Hollywood Reporter: "Unfortunately, the final stretch becomes dramatically unconvincing and visually murky, … where a seriously underwhelming and downright odd final reckoning takes place." Overall, the film sounds like a solid action flick from Cruise that should do well overseas and at home. Empire: "A playful and frantic science-fiction twister which mimics the best (Aliens, The Matrix, Groundhog Day) while offering something fresh and - most importantly - thrilling." Film School Rejects: "Director Doug Liman hasn't forgotten how to craft real escapist entertainment, despite his last popcorn film Jumper suggesting otherwise. His latest, Edge of Tomorrow, is maybe his most accomplished work to date, a massive blockbuster with scale, heart, plenty of humor, and no shortage of coolness. This, ladies and gentleman, is what we call a summer blockbuster." The Playlist: "It's snappy and funny and violent and weird and sets the bar impossibly high for the rest of this year's summer movie crop." Watch a trailer for the movie below: