Edge of Tomorrow / Rated PG 13 for scary monsters and violent death.
Budgeted at 178 million bucks, EOT is a Sci Fi thriller involving time travel and monsters. If you have seen the original Starship Troopers (1997) the monsters look like close relatives. It also has a relationship with Battle Los Angeles (2011) in the direction of the story. In BLA it was Los Angeles that was attacked. In EOT it’s all of Europe except Britain for the most part. Stirred in the mix are plot themes from Groundhog Day (1993) and even 50 First Dates (2004). Put it all in a blender and voila! Edge of Tomorrow (now).
EOT opened on the 70th anniversary of the WWII invasion of Europe. This is apropos, since it recreates that invasion with some updates. The 178 million looks like it was well spent. The EFX are spectacular and the battle scenes are extraordinary. Tom Cruise will be 52 this July and is still looking and playing parts 20 years younger. I don’t know if I will live long enough to see him age. He doesn’t seem to want to. Emily Blunt plays a soldier with great abilities and recovers well. Tom Paxton plays the gruff Sergeant.
The story revolves around and around an invasion of the Earth by a asteroid riding group of bad guys. They land all over Europe and take over quickly. The French are the 1st to surrender and toast the victors with Bordeaux. These bad guys are fast, sneaky and fatal. They seem to be able to rip apart any and everything that gets in their path. TC is the Major who has no combat experience that ends up in the invasion and gets killed within minutes. Not to worry. Each time he dies he wakes up and gets to do the day all over again. Along the way he meets sweet but tough Emily B. With her help he slowly puts together the puzzle of beating the 50’s style Sci Fi creatures and win the day. That is, as long as he lives and relives long enough.
This movie, which at first appears to be ready to fall into a pete and repeat film is enjoyable and fast paced and actually has loads of surprises in store for all. Since the EFX are super duper (I saw this in the standard 3D version), sit back and enjoy the ride. Over and over as it turns out. If the sets look familiar most of EOT was shot in England on the still existing Harry Potter sets. Everybody is trying to save these days. The question is can TC save us all?
Rated 3.5 out of 4.0 reasons to run and keep running. But not from Edge of Tomorrow.