Like many of Tom Cruise’s sci fi efforts lately, I went into this film not expecting much. Almost all of his recent films have had promising concepts but have ultimately fallen flat for one reason or another. It’s not even that they are necessarily bad films, but rather ultimately forgettable. Last year’s “Oblivion” was so lackluster, I couldn’t even be bothered to review it.
Part of it is Cruise himself. Most of his projects are ego boosting, explosion laden, action epics with little or no actual substance to propel them. Cruise chews his way through the scenery stopping to pause and wink at the camera before blowing up the next bad guy. That can be fun for a while, but eventually it gets old. Cruise passed his sell-by date for those types of films in the early 90s so it’s no surprise that audiences are growing increasingly bored with the action hero shtick. It’s slightly baffling to watch studios repeatedly throw money at Cruise with these Vanity projects only to have the box office reflect the audience’s ambivalence.
The numbers for Edge of Tomorrow however, tell a different story and it’s not difficult to see why. The film is fun. Unlike “Oblivion”, it doesn’t make aspirations at high concept sci fi. Rather, it takes a familiar plot device and twists it into a ‘man vs. aliens’ hero quest that is a witty and enjoyable two hours, despite the problems with plot and Cruise.
The films succeeds not because of Cruise, but despite him which is rather par for the course with anything he does these days. It is the writing, and the supporting cast that keeps the film fun and fresh, especially Emily Blunt.
The plot is your standard humanity vs. aliens sci fi action film. Humanity has been attacked by an alien scourge called Mimics. They are able to anticipate mankind’s actions and have won battle after battle spreading across Europe. It all looks pretty hopeless, except for one small victory at Verdun which has given them cause to hope that victory might be possible.
Tom Cruise’s character is William Cage. He is a major in the US army who has not seen a single day of combat. His job is to be the PR guy and “sell” the war, and it is one he is apparently quite good at. When a high ranking General asks him to go to the front to record humanity’s victory Cage attempts to run, an act of cowardice that gets him busted down to the rank of Private and shipped off to the front as a deserter.
His first taste of battle ends with him being killed by a mimic much larger than the others and it is this death and the mixing of their blood, that gives him the power to tape into their power and “reset” the day a-la ‘Groundhog Day’.
However that is where the similarities end. Through a series of trial and error he eventually manages to save the life of Sargent Rita Vrataski, the soldier responsible for the victory at Verdun. Her own experience being able to reset the day causes her to instruct him to find her when he “wakes up”. In doing so, he discovers that the mimics are all connected to one giant organism called an Omega, which has the power to reset the day every time it feels threatened and therefore ensure their own victory. Vrataski had that same ability until she received a blood transfusion after the victory at Verdun, so she is the only one capable of understanding what Cage is going through.
What results is a fairly standard hero’s journey storyline in which she trains Cage and prepares him for the final battle in which they must destroy the Omega and stop the cycle from repeating.
It’s a fairly standard plot with no real surprises, and yet it still manages to remain entertaining. Blunt is impressive as Sargent Vrataski, and the humour of the day repeating itself keeps it from getting old.
So what worked and what didn’t?
The Good:
- Emily Blunt’s character Rita Vrataski. I am simultaneously heartened and disappointed with the way her character is handled in this film, but I will start with the reasons I enjoyed her. Emily Blunt gives an excellent performance as a war hardened soldier who refuses to sit back and watch. Despite the fact that she dies in almost every incarnation, she resists the cliché of becoming the damsel that Cruise must save. She could have easily been reduced to the role of simple love interest, but the film gives her something to do. Even when Cage has made the transition from coward to hero, she maintains her own sense of agency and power. It may be ‘his’ story, but she doesn’t allow herself to simply be Cage’s cheerleader.
- The humour. The only thing that keeps this film from becoming the typical Tom Cruise action pic is the wit that is infused into the script. Director Doug Linman is able to write a script that not only utilizes a clichéd plot device but manages to make it funny enough that it doesn’t get old or tired no matter how many times he repeats the day. In some ways it’s cathartic to watch Cruise get killed over and over again.
- The pacing. Though the ending is a bit weak the film is nicely paced overall. This is especially difficult given the concept which has all the potential to become very tired very quickly. The film has a somewhat lengthy running time but never feels too drawn out which is surprising.
- Tom Cruise as a coward. This really only works for the first half of the film, but it is a refreshing enough departure from his normal roles as action stud that it makes it tolerable to watch.
The Bad:
- Emily Blunt’s character. Despite how progressive the film is in terms of her narrative, it is somewhat disappointing that her character never really goes anywhere. She exists solely to drive Cruise’s character forward in his quest. She is better trained, stronger, and far more capable than his character and yet it is ultimately his story that takes precedence. It would be nice for once to see a film in which the opposite were the case and I would quite happily watch a film about her own story prior to the film at Verdun as I feel it would make a far more compelling narrative. As a character she is more interesting to watch and as an actress, Blunt is clearly more talented.
- The ending makes no sense. It’s one of those time travel paradoxes, but the final solution to the film doesn’t make complete sense. It really only matters if you are super picky about plot, though so the best thing to do is not think about it too hard.
Overall it is an amusing action adventure film in which Tom Cruise isn’t horribly insufferable. That alone is worth the $11.50.
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