One of the most underrated movies of 2014, Edge of Tomorrow opened this weekend and I gotta tell ya.....it's GOOD. Tom Cruise doesn't seem to have the draw he once did but ironically all his films in the past few years have all been really really good. (Jack Reacher, MI: Ghost Protocol, Oblivion). Add Edge of Tomorrow to that list.
Following an Alien invasion by "Mimics", Earth is on the brink of total annihilation. Their invaders are "extremely smart" on the battle field and seem to win every single battle. The human race is throwing anything they can at the Alien forces knowing their sending everyone to their deaths. Cruise plays Lt. Col. Bill Cage who is blindsided into being one of these troops on the frontline. Cruise dies as expected but awakens having remembered everything that transpired but re-living the day from the beginning. It's known that the alien race has the ability to adapt and learn by reliving each battle knowing exactly what transpired. This gives the species an unbeatable edge in battle.....until Cage learns he has accidentally obtained this ability.
Why is this movie good? Here's 4 reasons why damn it.......
4. Mimics
One of the coolest movies story wise this year, also has one of the coolest CGI baddies as well. The 'Mimics" in Edge of Tomorrow look unbelievable cool and lifelike. They look like a mix of organic and metal but are all alien. They move "amazingly" quick on screen and seem to 'roll'. They resemble a group of octopuses (yes that's the proper pluralization of 'octopus' for all you internet trolls out there) , glued together, rolling down a highway at 85 MPH. They're incredibly creepy, somewhat scary, and 100% epic. They're a perfect fit for this movie. Anything slower or more humanoid would have just fell flat.
3. Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt's 'Sergeant Rita Vrataski' is a HUGE plus in this movie. She is the most feared and respected soldier to ever fight a mimic, AND SHE'S A WOMAN!. That's just plain awesome. You hardly ever see a woman step up and beat every guy in a movie to be the alpha male. She does, and it feels like it couldn't be any other way. Vrataski is a battle hardened veteran who's admire and vaulted to hero throughout the world. Her picture and catch phrase plasters walls all over London. She ultimately stumbles upon Cruise's character and instantly knows he now possesses a special gift. She tells him to 'FIND ME WHEN YOU WAKE UP'. Once Vrataski and Cage meet up, she sets out to train him.knowing he is the only one with the key to ending the war. Why? well you gotta see the movie to find out.
2. Exosuits
I know what your thinking.. 'ppppssshh its a rip off of Iron Man'. Well, you'd be dead wrong. It's actually a rip off of 'Elysium". But I'll give the benefit to E.O.T. The suits in 'E.O.T' are so badass. They're loaded with weapons and cannons, and put the Elysium style to shame. At first glance, and in pictures, the suits look bland and boring. They look cliche and dull, but in action is a WHOLE different story. These exo-suits are beautiful. Plus how else do you expect to kill a super smart , amazingly fast alien, 5 times your size. I wish I had 8 months of free time on my hands to cosplay one of these things.
1. Timey Whimey
For some reason, I'm ALWAYS drawn to anything time travel related. LOST is hard to top when it started with all its time jumps. The Back to the Future trilogy had me enthralled, even Star Trek IV, the Voyage Home had me giddy. This movie is no exception. They tackle the plot of a 'time loop' very well. With a few tiny hiccups but dig a decent job of covering for those flaws with dialogue. The entire story of an Alien Species that can go into battle, die, see where they went wrong, travel back to before the battle, learn from their mistakes and overcome them is PHENOMENAL!. An extremely imaginative idea was brought to life in this movie. The movie's screenplay was adapted from a Japanese novel called "All You Need is Kill" and from what I've read, it does the novel justice. Cage's transition from timid, incapable pitch man, to savior of the human race is also strewn with light comedy that Cruise dishes amazingly well. I could care less if he believes in a hokey religion, he's a great actor and has proven in with his last 4 outings, as well as Tropic Thunder. Watching him learn from his hundreds upon hundreds of deaths plays out extremely well in this movie. You'd expect to be overloaded with repetitiveness in this movie but its quite the opposite. You can thank the director Doug Liman from that. I just can't praise this movie enough and I'm not afraid to say it was one of the years best movies...SUCK IT GODZILLA
You should dig it, if you can wrap you're brain around it... I did, and I loved it.