Live Die Repeat/Edge of Tomorrow (2014) - Review
Originally published March, 2016.Live Die Repeat/Edge of Tomorrow—that's its full name due to the fact they couldn't make up their minds about what to call the movie—is a film that, when I first watched it, I thought was pulled from an anime or will likely become one at some point if it hadn't happened already. I wasn't too far off, since it's actually based on a Japanese novel called All You Need is Kill. From what I understand, the premise remains mostly the same, but the characters are a little different. Considering how much I like one of the characters, I can only imagine it's an improvement.
Whether you like or don't like anime shouldn't affect your viewing of Edge of Tomorrow, though. There may be similarities across the mediums, but the film certainly stands on its own. It's a pretty fun movie with some standout moments that help make this more than just a generic action movie starring Tom Cruise.
Pros
Character growth
The "Mimics" are a cool alien design
Subtle humor
Quality dialogue
Barn scene
Strong female badass done right
Action scenes are cool when they aren't in shaky cam
Cons
Time travel plot holes
"Rules" of the time-reset powers that are explained in a way that makes them feel like rules written in a script, not natural to the world
Character behavior is a little inconsistent considering the premise
Deus Ex Machinas
Must suspend your disbelief
Plot & Thoughts
Edge of Tomorrow starts with a load of exposition that is delivered through random real and fake news clips. Through this footage, we are able to gather that there was a meteor that struck Earth carrying the aliens known as Mimics, which have quickly taken over most of Europe. While the humans are definitely getting their asses handed to them, there was one significant victory, led by the "Angel of Verdun," Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), who managed to help secure a human victory with her prodigal abilities and a special experiment mechanical suit that has become common for general infantry in this movie. And she did it on her first day in combat! Sprinkled among the news clips, the charismatic but cowardly, Major Cage, played by Tom Cruise, helps keep the propaganda train rolling to recruit new heroes like Rita.
Unfortunately for him, he's considered too important to the propaganda machine and is ordered against his will to report news from the front lines of the biggest battle in history, where the humans plan to make their final Hail Mary effort against the Mimics. He refuses, is stripped of his status, and is forced to fight instead of just report like a newscaster. Sucks to be him.
Due to his deserting nature, he's given little empathy from his new battle comrades and has to figure out how to use a military super suit on his own in the middle of combat. Some things happen, he dies, and suddenly he wakes back up in the same spot where he was dumped after his attempted desertion. The day plays out just as before, he dies again, and the cycle repeats itself. Eventually, he manages meet up with Rita who helps make the most of his new powers.
The overall premise itself isn't hard to wrap your head around, especially if you've seen Groundhog Day. It's when the movie tries to explain how it works that things start to get a little messy. Of course, we need to know why this is happening to him, because this isn't a light romance or comedy like Groundhog Day. We certainly want to see Cage become a better person, but we're not as concerned about him getting the girl by the end as we are with him defeating the aliens; this is a conflict that demands a winner, and to win, we need them to figure out how to use this time-reset ability. The problem is that the film specifically deals with time travel and the whole idea that it proposes creates questions that it will not, or can not answer. I won't spoil why, but if you really sit and think about the circumstances, there are some big plot holes in there, as there always are when dealing with time-travel.
The main problem I had that came from the time travel premise had to do with the characters. How the characters interact with one another, and how we perceive them interacting changes throughout the movie and can be a little inconsistent. In the first couple rounds of his death day, it feels appropriate in that the other characters have never met Cage before and all have their preconceived notions about him. When he interacts with Rita though, there's a small sense that their experiences are carrying over between them, even though he should be the only one remembering anything. I think its more of a problem with the direction and editing than Blunt's acting. There are several moments and montages that are presented in a way that portray her as though she's going through the same experiences as Cruise's character, even though she isn't, technically. It's not overtly problematic to the drama of the film, but I still felt that it wasn't quite handled properly.
Other than the plot holes that always come with time travel, and the deus ex machina solutions they came up with to wrap things up by the end, Edge of Tomorrow is still pretty fun. The action scenes are exciting, so long as they're not shot in shaky-cam. There are also some solemn emotional scenes, like the one in the barn, that are done well with tension and a reduced amount of dialogue. Plus, it's just cool to see Cage, the coward, slowly become a battle-hardened killing machine like Rita.
On a side note: Rita is yet another strong female hero from film, done right, who has emerged in 2015. The number of women action hero characters in film has grown over the years, but it's been a slow process and often have been reduced in some way by sexual stigma, or were subject to false heroism and still ended up being a damsel who needed rescuing in some way or another. For example, there were the movies with the female super heroes who are capable of amazing acrobatics and unreal stunts, yet are still displayed in a way that is more overtly sexual than necessary like Eon Flux, Tomb Raider, or pretty much any action movie with Angelina Jolie. Then, there were the films like Snow White & the Huntsman, where Snow White is supposed to become a badass by the end, but she doesn't really do much in that big climatic moment other than run around in shaky-cam mode and mouth-breathe. Thus, it's a pleasant surprise to see that the badass female character has been transformed a little bit in 2015 to match the standard set by Vasquez in Aliens 30+ years ago. Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road and Rita Vrataski from Edge of Tomorrow are 2015's examples of badass female characters done right.
Tl;DR (Conclusion)
Edge of Tomorrow is not a perfect film, and its premise gets in its own way at times with all the usual time-travel problems or loose ends that are conveniently tied up. However, none of those things keep the movie from at least being a fun action ride with some solid dialogue and subtle humor. I doubt the movie will blow your mind, but I also doubt you won't be entertained.
All aboard?
Do you agree or disagree? Tell me what you think in the comments!
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