Edge of Tomorrow

Did you see the science fiction movie where the guy needs to solve a mystery and yet he keeps dying? But every time he dies, he suddenly wakes up again--you've seen it right? It's a neat little film with a clever concept: what if a movie was like a video game, where every time the character died, he got to try over again and win? The film is called "Edge of Tomorrow," and it's the hit new mov--wait a minute! That wasn't "Edge of Tomorrow"! That was "Source Code," with Jake Gyllenhaal, from several years ago. Alright, well both films share strikingly similar plots, although "Edge of Tomorrow" is a louder (and more stupid) movie with more action and big, creepy aliens (that happen to kind of look like a hybrid of those in "Independence Day" and "War of the Worlds"--again, not so creative).

"Edge of Tomorrow," the hit new movie with Tom Cru--wait a minute! Those helmets...that gear...those grotesque aliens...I know I've seen those somewhere. Was it "Source Code"? No, there were no aliens in that movie. Methinks it was circa 1997. I know--it was..."Starship Troopers"? I remember that one! That's the guilty pleasure Paul Verhoeven movie; "the only good bug is a dead bug!" Okay, so one must concede that this "new" movie called "Edge of Tomorrow" borrows from "Source Code" and "Starship Trooper" (and "Independence Day" and "War of the Worlds"), but that's it!

Although...those aliens...they move so darn fast, rolling around and everything. Wait just a friggan minute. Those things move just like the aliens (or robots or monsters or whatever the hell they were) in "The Matrix." Is there anything original in this supposedly new movie? Not really. "Edge of Tomorrow" is frankly, not very original. But directors as varied as Quentin Tarantino, George Lucas, and Martin Scorsese have all used previous works from other directors as inspiration. There is (usually) nothing wrong with this. But when it becomes so prevalent as it is in "Edge of Tomorrow," it becomes distracting, to say the least.

But wait, wait, wait! "Edge of Tomorrow" is based on a 2004 book called "All You Need Is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. So in actuality, "Source Code" (but not 1997's "Starship Troopers") is guilty of unoriginality, no? What a particular position this reviewer finds himself in: criticizing a movie for being unoriginal when it in fact is...original. Shouldn't this make me rescind my initial appraisal of "Source Code" and assess "Edge of Tomorrow" differently? Ah, to hell with it! Complaining about a movie because it's unoriginal does not justify disliking the film. But alas, that is not the only problem with "Edge of Tomorrow." For one, it's a pretty stupid title. But again, not sufficient evidence to bash it. Is the acting bad? No--for the most part. Cruise does a fine job. Of course, he hardly ever submits a bad performance. He can almost always lead an action blockbuster, as is the case with "Mission: Impossible" or "Top Gun," and he often puts in exceptional acting, like he did in "Magnolia" and "Collateral." He's one of the rare actors who can lead a loud, dumb movie, and actually act. But he's not given too much to do here, and neither is his co-star, Emily Blunt.

Cruise plays Major William Cage (what a pristinely original name) who sort of goes on TV and "sells" the war as a propagandist. The war happens to be the entire world (or so we should hope) against an alien species. But when he shows up to the war zone, his general (Brendan Gleeson) orders him to the battlefront, even though he has never served and has no intention to. He wakes up in handcuffs and is joyfully humiliated by his commanding officer, played by Bill Paxton (whose acting is a bit over the top, but whimsical and enjoyable nonetheless). Cage is put into terribly heavy and potent gear (similar to the ones in "Aliens" and "Pacific Rim"--oh, for the love of God). "Saving Private Ryan"-style (ugh), he storms the beach with his other soldiers...and dies quickly. But then he wakes up.

"Oh, no," the audience must think. "Not one of those stupid 'it was all a dream' types of story." No, not quite. Here's where the fun begins. Cage seems a bit nauseous as he relives essentially the exact previous moments before his "death." His commanding officer, Paxton again, goes through the same routine. The other soldiers taunt him in the same manner. Something surely is amiss. He dies again and then wakes, yet again in the fetal position, kicked up. He tries to convince the others of his prophetic ability to foresee the upcoming slaughter by the aliens; it's as if the aliens know they're coming. He goes into the same battle, at times trying to save his comrades, often with success, but it's for naught. He continues to die, he continues to wake. It's as if this is the sci-fi version of "Groundhog Day" (dammit!). But he does find one peculiar difference: there appears to be someone just like him.

This is where Blunt comes in. She plays Rita Vrataski, a soldier fiercely nicknamed "the Angel of Verdun" due to her reputation as a fighter. She, too, suffers from this bizarre condition, and once she realizes it, she instructs him to find her again once he dies. Again, this is quite fun. Over and over, we see him replaying this game, finding Rita again and again, dying again and again, becoming stronger, yet discovering not only his own flaws and inabilities, but his growing (and predictable) affection for her.

But the filmmakers cannot sustain this for long. Eventually, it just becomes loud and uninteresting. A missed opportunity, as they say, and an unoriginal one.

Did I mention the music sounds a lot like the theme from "Inception"?