Imagine a world devastated by an alien attack and Tom Cruise is the one man who can figure out what’s going on and save the world. Yeah, many people think they have already seen this movie with last year’s Oblivion which was a much more solemn and thought-provoking affair. Cruise’s new sci-fi flick about an alien invasion, Edge of Tomorrow, is 180 degrees away from that other alien invasion movie, but will audiences feel like it’s Cruise vs aliens overkill?

The answer is a big fat NO! In Oblivion, Cruise was the “last man on Earth” after an alien invasion but not everything was as it seemed. In Edge of Tomorrow, Cruise is a military man of sorts. Instead of enlisting to fight the enemy, he’s taken a path that gives him rank but usually keeps him out of danger by producing what amounts to propaganda videos for the war effort. An alien race has arrived on Earth via meteor strike and is hellbent on wiping out the human race. Interestingly enough, we never know why. When Cruise’s Major Cage refuses General Brigham’s orders to be embedded at the front of an upcoming attack, he finds himself branded a deserter and placed with a squadron of less than desirable recruits.

At the beach on the day of the attack, the military finds itself under attack because the aliens somehow knew they were coming. Cage, completely at a loss on how to fight or survive, watches his men die horribly all around him and within minutes he is also killed by a marauding alien, which have been nicknamed “Mimics” because of their ability to learn and copy human behavior. But after Cage’s death, he wakes up in exactly the same place he woke up just before he was forced to join the troops. Did he have a bad dream? He’s thrust into battle again, dies again, wakes up again … and begins to realize that something happened to him that has given him the ability to reset the day. With the help of Special Forces soldier Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), who has also experienced what Cage is going through, they try to advance the day far enough to figure out how the Mimics know their every move, and what to do about it.

There are many action movies that come along promising you an “edge of your seat” thrill ride, and Edge of Tomorrow is a movie that truly delivers. Director Doug Liman and writers Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth have adapted the novel “All You Need Is Kill” into a mind-bending rollercoaster ride that will keep you guessing to the very end and dazzle you with the outstanding visuals and pyrotechnics. It’s interesting to think that the director of Swingers and Go has become one of the best action movie directors working today with this, The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith to his credit. Edge of Tomorrow is just massive on scale and concept and he pulls it off without a hitch.

Cruise is also terrific, playing a decidedly unheroic character who has to become the hero to save not only his life, but the lives of those he actually grows to care about over the course of his very long day. What sets this film and his performance apart from Oblivion is the amount of humor which is injected into the situation. Yes, the planet is under attack, but Cruise manages to make us chuckle with some of his very creative deaths (one that happens off camera with only a sound effect is particularly funny). He also lightens things up every time he resets and has to go through the same rigamarole with Master Sergeant Farell (Bill Paxton) at the start of his “day.” But we really become invested in Cage’s journey not simply because he’s trying to save the world, but because we also see his emotional journey as he grows from a coward to a warrior, and as someone who cares about his fellow man while also developing feelings for Vrataski, whom he is never sure he can save.

One may not think Emily Blunt when casting the next big female action heroine, but she is totally believable as the kick-ass soldier who trains 24/7 to take her team out on their next mission … even if it is the same mission over and over again. She’s a total hard-ass when Cage first approaches her (Vrataski is revered for her victories in battle which has earned her the nickname The Angel of Verdun and made her a symbol of the war effort), and remains a hard-ass as she understands what has happened to him, pushes him through grueling training, and fights alongside him in battle, trying to learn what comes next and how to move forward. She does everything she can to keep her personal feelings out of their mission, so there’s never any real romantic tension between her and Cage until it seems that perhaps all is lost.

The movie has so much going for it, including keeping you guessing to the end as to how the situation will be resolved. You have to assume that Cruise will save the day, but as the film races to its conclusion, you’re not so sure who will live and die by the time it’s all over. It’s really not like an action movie where you know for sure the film’s biggest star has no chance of dying by the end. In this, Cruise and Blunt both stand a very good chance of not making it to the end credits. You just have to go along for the ride and be prepared for one of at least three outcomes (they save the world but sacrifice themselves to do so, one of them dies while saving the world, they both survive and save the world).

Whereas Oblivion was one of the most gorgeous films of the year, Edge of Tomorrow is not as glamorous but it still looks and sounds spectacular. If you have the chance to see the film in IMAX 3D, I highly recommend that being your first choice. The IMAX image is stunningly crisp and clear and the 3D effect does add a lot of depth to the scope of the film as well as throws debris and alien tentacles in your face. Pretty impressive for a conversion. Edge of Tomorrow has everything you could hope for in a summertime action movie — big stars doing some great work, a director at the top of his game, a clever script, and amazing visuals and sound design. This is the summer action movie to beat.

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