Edge of Tomorrow

This movie really came out of left field for me. I had seen the trailers, I had heard the reviews, and throughout it all, I thought "Meh, maybe I'll see it." It was not really a movie I had high on my list of things to see.

Well suddenly a friend of mine wanted to go see a movie. He initially suggested 22 Jump Street. As you can see, I've already seen 22 Jump Street but I wouldn't mind seeing it again. But I took a minute to think about what other movies we could see. Edge of Tomorrow came into my mind, yet I was still very cautious. I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into and if I would enjoy it or not. But the ticket was relatively cheap and I started up the new Tom Cruise adventure.

Now I've reviewed a couple movies starring Tom Cruise. The fact of the matter is, I like the guy as an actor.

I won't judge the guy personally because frankly, its his business what he does with his life. He wants to believe that aliens live inside our bodies from a distant planet, as long as he's not hurting anybody, he can do what he wants.

But I always go into his movies with a little bit of caution. Again, he's a good actor, there are just parts I don't really see him in from what I see in the trailer. Jack Reacher is a great example of this. I don't see Tom Cruise as a Military Police Investigator. However, I really enjoyed Jack Reacher so I was wrong there. And with Edge of Tomorrow, I was very wrong.

Tom Cruise plays an American Major in a not so distant future where the world has been invaded by an alien race. Major William Cage (Cruise) is an officer who has never seen combat in his life. He joined the Army through ROTC, he's made his way through the military as a Public Affairs officer, selling the strength of the military to the public and gaining recruits for the fight against the aliens.

But when his commanding officer orders him to the front lines, Cage refuses and ends up forced to the front lines as a private just hours before the invasion.

This is one of the two problems I have with this film, and they are very small. To begin, I get that they needed to get Cage on the front lines for the entire story to happen, but he goes from a Major to a private in a matter of hours, all because Mad Eye Moody said so.

This was a weird way to start off the film. Again, I know they need to get Cage on the front lines but having him start off as a Major didn't really make sense to me. I happen to know a little bit about military ranks and while Mad Eye did out rank Cage, it was just strange and little silly that he sent a Major, a Major who has done a very good job at what he's been doing, to a front line battle when he has no combat experience whatsoever. The logic behind that decision really doesn't make any sense whatsoever. So while I understand Cage needed to be in these certain circumstances, the way they brought him there just seems a little odd and scotch taped together.

But that was soon forgotten when Cage is thrown into battle. The first battle, he doesn't know how to use his equipment, a giant metal exoskeleton with heavy weapons attached to it.

At first I wasn't wild about the design of the exoskeleton but the machinery and futuristic technology is just brilliant in this film.

So the invasion is met with more resistance then they expected and Cruise dies within 5 minutes of the start of the battle.

However, he awakens at the same moment he did the day before. Everything happens the same way it did before and he is reliving that day.

Suddenly Cage can relive this day over and over and over again but every time he dies, he is just brought back to the same time when he wakes up on the same day.

Essentially its Groundhog Day... but with aliens and robot armor.

In case you haven't seen it, Groundhog Day is a movie with a very similar plot. A man wakes up on Groundhog Day and keeps reliving the same day over, and over, and over, and over again. The difference is, Groundhog day was a comedy staring Bill Murray.

Edge of Tomorrow instead, is a sci-fi thriller with Tom Cruise. And there is a distinct explanation as to why he keeps reliving the same day, as opposed to Groundhog Day... I think... I'll be honest, I've never actually seen that entire movie. I just thought it kept going and going and going.

Then Cage meets the down right gorgeous Sergeant Rita Vrataski (played by the absolutely stunning Emily Blunt) Rita explains that the phenomena that is happening to him, happened to her. It happened during the battle that made her a hero, because she was able to relive the day over and over again until they won the battle.

Rita tells Cage to keep coming to her each day to train. All in an attempt to find the mother ship of the aliens and end the war.

This movie, was just brilliant. There's a lot of things I left out, mainly because this movie is a movie you really do need to see.

It has that feeling of Groundhog Day where Cage tries to alter his destiny. He tries to work his way out, he tries so many different attempts and eventually he can say verbatum exactly what people are going to say, what they're going to do and he can use this knowledge to either beat them in fights or persuade them to do what he says.

But a lot of the reason this movie is so good is because you see the effect living the same day over and over again has on Cage. He sees the same person die over and over again no matter how many times he tries to save her. And of course, since they're the main male and female roles, obviously Cage begins to fall for her.

But the chemistry between the two is actually really freaking good. But I would never call this a love story. Sure there's a romance but it is only an element of the formula that makes this movie really great.

The action is great. The effects are great. The acting is superb. I just a little bit of half-way through the film and I took a second and just realized, this movie was incredibly good. I was amazed because I haven't seen an action/sci-fi, or any original film this good for a long time that wasn't a comic book movie, or a movie definitely going for an Oscar.

Its still very early, its only been about an hour since the movie ended. I'll have to get back to you on this but this movie might be one of the best movies I've seen, not only this summer, but this year.

Edge of Tomorrow plays a perfect balance between the action, the sci-fi, the drama, even a little bit of comedy is thrown in there and its just a down right fun time.

If you have the chance, go see it.

I mentioned 2 things that bothered me about the movie and that was the beginning and it was the end. This movie has a great climax that really accentuates the circumstances these characters find themselves in. Its dramatic, its just down right epic, but unfortunately, it leads to a bit of a confusing ending. Its an ending I'm still not quite sure about. Similarly to the beginning, it just kind of turns out in a way the script wants it to, not necessarily something that makes a lot of sense. So the ending isn't great.

The rest of the movie, however, really makes up for problems I see with the beginning and the end.

Edge of Tomorrow was just good. Very, very good.

But that's my thoughts on Edge of Tomorrow, maybe a little bit too fueled by the effects that movie had on me but those are my thoughts, what did you think? Have you seen Edge of Tomorrow? What did you think? Comment and discuss Below!

I'll leave you with this. Its movies like this that make me wonder why there isn't a Halo movie. I think it could definitely be done. Here's a live action clip of Halo. I don't know if its for an actual movie or if its fan made, but its really darn good. Enjoy!