For the past decade or so, Tom Cruise’s output, outside of the Mission Impossible franchise, has been woefully inconsistent.
He gives us MI:3 and then Valkyrie and Knight and Day.
He does Ghost Protocol but also does Rock of Ages and Oblivion.
He brings us Rogue Nation and then does The Mummy.
To be fair, other than The Mummy, which was patently atrocious, none of those other movies are ‘terrible.’ But I wouldn’t call any of them ‘great’ either.
Irrespective of how you may feel about them, his value as an action star outside of the MI franchise has been in decline.
And that is one reason Edge of Tomorrow underperformed. That he did Oblivion; another middling sci-fi movie, just prior to Edge, didn’t help.
I wasn’t expecting much from the movie. A sci-fi Groundhog Day? I thought Source Code had already mined that formula for all its worth.
But I’m a fan of Cruise’s; I think he’s a much better actor than he’s given credit for, and generally elevates any movie he’s a part of. So I went in; expecting mediocrity.
How wrong I was. Edge of Tomorrow turned out to be one the finest and most fun sci-fi movies of the decade.
It blew me away.
It utilises the Groundhog Day formula to hugely entertaining effect.
It’s well-paced, and it doesn’t feel repetitive, which is imperative for a story of this nature. And that quality also makes it infinitely re-watchable.
The action is well executed and helped by the design of the aliens; their serpentine movement and attack patterns bring a sense of urgency and trepidation to the set pieces.
The film rests on Cruise’s able shoulders, which are unsurprisingly up to the task.
Playing against his stereotypical ‘badass good guy’ type, Cruise brings a unique energy to the film as the cowardly Major Cage.
Cage’s gradual progression into a character more traditionally identified with Cruise is enormously gratifying.
Then there's Emily Blunt, the Angel of Verdun herself.
While she’s playing the ‘gun-toting female badass’ type, the story’s unique structure allows Blunt to suffuse her character with the appropriate measure of depth and vulnerability. She’s marvelous, as is her norm.
Edge of Tomorrow is an excellent movie; one of my favourite action movies of the decade. It’s the sort of enjoyable yet intelligent blockbuster that we need more of.
Considering its scale and budget, it underperformed at the Box Office.
But it has acquired enough goodwill that a sequel titled Live Die Repeat and Repeat has been green-lit and is in development.
I absolutely won't be expecting mediocrity this time around.
Image source Google
Thanks for Reading
0 Comments