Released: 2014
Directed By: Doug Liman
Cast:
Tom Cruise: Cage
Emily Blunt: Rita
Bill Paxton: Master Sergeant Farell
I have a question for everyone: What’s in a name? The reason I ask is because some of the movies that we all know and love have recognizable names: Star Wars, Alien, and Indiana Jones among others. That’s not always the case. Sometimes movies start out with entirely different titles and as time goes on, it changes. It happens all the time. It just so happens that from time to time, a movie that’s based on a book or comic will start out with a recognizable name, and the studio will change it. Why? The studios seem to think that people might not recognize the original title. Take The 13th Warrior for example: That’s a movie based on Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead. The film had the same name as the book, but they changed it because they thought the movie would be….weird. Here’s the issue: when you change the name of a movie from it’s namesake people end up getting confused as to what exactly it is they’re watching. Anyone who was familiar with Michael Crichton would be familiar with Eaters of the Dead. They got confused when the studio changed the name. Sometimes the original name will stick with the movie in international markets. Again, that does happen a lot. Earlier this year, there was a science fiction movie released with the title of Edge of Tomorrow. When it was first announced, it was called: All You Need Is Kill. It was based on a Japanese graphic novel of the same name. Warner Bros. came to the conclusion that most people would have absolutely no idea what All You Need Is Kill would be, so they changed the name. The new name actually added to the confusion, and as a result people stayed away.
Edge of Tomorrow begins as Major William Cage(Tom Cruise)is ordered to the front lines against an alien menace. After attempting to blackmail General Brigham(Brenden Gleeson), he’s zapped and wakes up face to face with Master Sergeant Farell(Bill Paxton). Stripped of his rank and forced into battle, Cage comes face-to-face with a giant blue alien, so he detonates a mine and kills the alien as well as himself. Cage wakes up with a start face-to-face with Farell again. Cage is on the front line again when he comes face to face with another soldier, Rite(Emily Blunt). Killed again, Cage wakes up again, and seems to repeat everything until he saves Rita from getting killed. She tells him to find him when he wakes up. If this sound suspiciously like Groundhog Day, you’re really not far off. We have a character that wakes up every time that he gets killed at the same time he wakes up the first time after getting zapped. I’m not going to say anymore about the plot as it does get more interesting as the film goes on. How Cage gets the ability to repeat the same day is one of the interesting surprises that the movie throws at you.
When the film came out, it wasn’t well-received because people were confused as to what kind of movie it was. It recently came out on Blu-Ray and DVD under the moniker: Live. Die. Repeat/Edge of Tomorrow. I don’t think that really helps the movie’s cause when it’s constantly undergoing name changes long after it’s been released. It’s a shame too, because this is a damned good movie. You could call it Groundhog Day With Aliens, but I don’t think that really gives the film enough credit. This is a smart movie with some clever writing, and while certain elements don’t really gel, the overall picture is just phenomenal. Some people would claim that there’s a video game element to the movie, and they aren’t wrong. Dying when you screw up and then waking up at an earlier point is a tried-and-true video game mechanic. Putting that into a movie seems weird, but when you see Tom Cruise in action, it actually benefits the film, because you see Cage get frustrated every time he gets killed. That’s the kind of feeling that gamers get when they have to restart. It does get frustrating. It’s also very amusing to see Cage end up breaking his leg and as Rita aims her gun, he goes: “Oh, come on!” The film definitely has a sense of humor.
It’s very interesting to see Tom Cruise in a film like this. Usually, he starts out being the hero and blah, blah, blah. In Edge of Tomorrow, he starts off as a bit of a coward. Again, that’s pretty funny. As the film goes on however, we see Cage evolve from a coward to the hero that we all expect him to be. Emily Blunt’s character of Rita is very interesting. She’s a hard-ass in every which way, but she’s connected to Cage in the fact that she had the same power that he does, only she lost it. Seeing Emily Blunt go toe-to-toe with Tom Cruise is a sight to behold. She doesn’t really come across as a love-interest, because her character is a decorated combat soldier, and doesn’t really have time for that. I just love watching these two bounce off each other. The rest of the cast does a pretty good job. Bill “Game Over, Man” Paxton plays the tough Master Sergeant with a bit of a smile. I have to say, it’s awesome seeing Mr. Paxton in a science fiction movie again. He just seems so comfortable with the genre, and he’s clearly having a great time hamming it up. So, yeah, the performances are fantastic all around.
You would think that the action sequences would get boring after seeing them repeat each other. That doesn’t really happen, surprisingly. No, every time that Cage dies, he gets the chance to change things until he can win the war. Sometimes he gets run over by a truck; sometimes he gets blown to smithereens. Whenever he starts again, he remembers what happened before, so he can predict where the aliens will be or and when certain people die. This make for a rather unique film experience, because it still ends up being unpredictable until the end. Yeah, there are big explosions and tons of gunfire, but that’s just icing on the cake. If there’s a downside to the film, it’s the ending. It’s not bad, but it’s pretty cliche. That’s the only downside that I noticed. This is a movie that deserved much more attention than it got, and that’s partially because Warner Bros. kept changing the name. It’s surprisingly important to have a set name so people know what kind of movie it is that you’re selling. That aside, this is a pretty smart movie with interesting dynamics and characters that hits the ground running. It’s not the only science fiction movie that has this kind of mechanic, Duncan Jones’ Source Code is also very similar, and also very good, but it’s a different set up than Edge of Tomorrow. I don’t think I can recommend this one enough. It’s awesome. It’s action-packed, funny and intelligent. Maybe Groundhog Day With Aliens would be a better title. 9.5/10.