**Just a warning. The first part of this is a spoiler free review. After I give my rating there will be another warning and a picture of Emily Blunt in her battle outfit before a section where I go into detail about plot specifics and the ending so please be warned**
So did you hear that Starship Troopers and Groundhog Day had a baby? It’s named Edge of Tomorrow and it stars Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, and Bill Paxton.
I was iffy about this movie. The trailers made it look great, but then again, that’s a trailer’s job. Even though my reviews focus on fun and overall enjoyment instead of picking movies to death, I’m still gun shy about big Hollywood blockbusters. Maybe I just don’t want to get my heart broken by getting all excited for big bangs and flashy visuals. I knew Edge of Tomorrow was based off the light novel (Japanese Teen Lit) by Hiroshi Sakurazaka titled “All You Need Is Kill” and historically American adaptations of Japanese media are pretty bad (Dragonball Evolution anyone?). So what I’m trying to get at is that I was truly in the dark about this movie but hopefully I can shine some light on it for you.
Go see Edge of Tomorrow! I know that the intro to this review was less than flattering, calling it the love child of two other movies, but that’s really the best way to describe it and the combo worked. The first half of the movie had a lot of comedy thrown into the mix with the character building and story development, but it was done so tastefully. The comedy fit the mood so it didn’t feel out of place. Part of the movie had a sitcom montage feel to it that made me laugh my ass off. The comedic side was a welcome and enjoyable surprise.
The second half of the movie had very few funny moments, and that’s exactly what the story called for. The pacing was well done so I never felt like I had missed out on anything, even when there were substantial time jumps. The story unfolded naturally so not only was it paced well, but every big event felt like it was earned or needed for the sake of moving the story along.
The acting was good, but didn’t blow me away. I know Tom Cruise gets a lot of crap but that’s mainly for his beliefs and wacky interviews. I believe he’s a fantastic actor and Edge of Tomorrow is just another notch in his belt. Cruise made the change Cage (his character) went though very real and very satisfying. I’ll dive a bit more into that in the spoiler section. The rest of the actors did a good job but there wasn’t a whole lot of growth for anyone besides Cage. Emily Blunts character grew a little which was amazing seeing as how everyone was trapped in a Groundhog Day scenario. A character can’t have a lot of growth when they’re repeating the same day over and over and don’t even realize it.
My only gripe about the movie is the ending which, oddly enough, I also liked a lot. I hate to be a bastard about it, but that explanation is going to have to wait for the spoiler section. Sorry.
Let me wrap up this haphazard review by saying this: Edge of Tomorrow was a fun movie from start to finish that had me laughing one moment and on the edge of my seat the next. I plan on going to see it again as soon as I can find another friend to go with me. You, my dear readers, should see it at least once. Do so in the theaters because this is the kind of movie you want to watch on the big screen. Even if you wait for a cheap matinee, just make sure you see this.
Edge of Tomorrow gets a 9 out of 11.
***Spoiler Time! This is your last chance to turn back! Everything that I write from here on out contains spoilers to not just key plot points, but the ending as well. You’ve been warned***
Even though I loved Edge of Tomorrow and even though I plan on seeing it a second time, it still didn’t earn an 11 or even a 10. I save 11s for movies that blow me away. I want to have such a raging nerd boner at the end of the movie that it knocks the popcorn out of my lap. I was close to giving EoT a 10, but there was one thing holding me back. The ending.
For those of you who have seen this movie already, or those of you who don’t care about spoilers, the ending is everything I was hoping it would be. Tom Cruise wins the day and puts an end to the alien scourge. He then gets covered by the blood of the Omega and wakes up on his way to the base again, but this time not as a deserter forced to fight on the front lines, but at his old position going to do PR stuff. That means everyone who died is still alive and the aliens died. Yay! He gets a chance to be with Emily Blunt! Yay! All the rag tag solders he took the final battle are alive! Yay! It’s the perfect happy ending! But I sat there as the credits rolled and something didn’t feel right. It felt like the writers used a cheat code. True, they won, but they had to cheat to do it. Maybe I’m just being too hard on them.
The other thing I wanted to touch on in this section is the one thing I really liked about Cage’s growth. He starts out the movie as a dirt bag but by the end he’s changed. The ending puts him back as a major, I believe it was, except now he’s earned the rank. Even with my reservations about the ending, I quite enjoyed his return to his former status.