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A Reel Life film section

Issue: Winter 2014

Edge of Tomorrow (2014) movie review

Time Is On Our Side

In an Earth stricken with a massive war against an alien lifeform, Major Cage (Tom Cruise) is a PR guru who finds himself about to be inserted on the front lines. So he decides the smart thing would be to blackmail a general. And so he wakes up in an officer's uniform, but without credentials, with orders that state that he's a lying deserter. Whoops.

In the background we see a bus with a huge image of a war hero on the side -- the Full Metal Bitch (Emily Blunt). He is sent to war with J Squad, put into an exoskeleton he can't operate and dropped from an airship. They quickly encounter loud, busy war and aliens like manic prehensile tumbleweeds that come up from the ground. And he dies covered in alien blood. Then awakens back on the airstrip.

movie poster, Edge of Tomorrow, Festivale film review; 220x326

Movie poster, Edge of Tomorrow
Live. Die. Repeat.

The full metal bitch (Rita) realises that he is reliving the battle and together they embark on a mission to find the central intelligence of the aliens and destroy them.

So, yes. There are lots of special effects, there is lots of fighting, and (praise be) a kickass heroine.

If you want thoughtful dialogue and deep characterisation, this is not your movie. However as a fast-paced, beat-the-aliens, science fiction battle flick it does the job. The reliving-the-day idea has been around for a while, but it can be fun if done well, and this isn't bad at all.

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by Ali Kayn
www.alikayn.com
Ali on Facebook
Australian release 5 June 2014
For credits and official site details, see below
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Just the facts:

Title: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie and Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth (screenplay); Hiroshi Sakurazaka (novel "All You Need Is Kill")
Directed by: Doug Liman
Running time: 113 mins
Rating: M

The Players: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendon Gleeson

Official website:
IMDb entry

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