Review: EDGE OF TOMORROW

EDGE OF TOMORROW  (SCI-FI/ACTION)
4 out of 4 
Directed by Doug Liman
Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Noah Taylor, Kick Gurry, Dragomir Mrsic, Charlotte Riley, Jonas Armstrong, Franz Drameh, Tony Way
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive material.
113 min.
Verdict: A practically perfect summer blockbuster with thrills, chills and laughs galore, EDGE OF TOMORROW is a streamlined piece of smart spectacle.
YOU MAY ENJOY EDGE OF TOMORROW IF YOU LIKED: 
ALIENS  (1986)
OBLIVION  (2013)
MINORITY REPORT  (2002)
SOURCE CODE  (2011)
AVATAR  (2009)

The world is an occupied territory in intergalactic war, and the battle being waged between humanity's united military and the invading 'Mimics' is a hellscape that spans the continent of Europe.  For five years now, Earth's forces have been beaten down by the relentless Mimics, but then a new war hero arrived in the form of Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), known in the media as "The Angel of Verdun", and within the ranks as the "Full Metal Bitch".  Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is a sniveling officer and media spokesman who finds himself oh-so-reluctantly wrangled into service, strapped into mechanized exoskeleton battle suit and dropped with the first wave on the frontlines of a D-Day-style beach landing to invade alien-occupied France.  It isn't long before he's killed in the mayhem, but he's then instantaneously returned to the morning before, when he first arrived at base.  The two days play themselves out yet again, right up until he's again killed in combat.  Then it happens again, and again and again, al a GROUNDHOG DAY.  Finally he confronts Rita, who it turns out, had been through a similar experience in her victory at Verdun, but it ended for her, and now she knows how to use it to finally defeat the Mimics once and for all, if she and Cage aren't killed permanently first.

Although the title EDGE OF TOMORROW makes more sense, it still isn't as cool as its original title, borrowed from its source material, a Japanese young adult novel titled All You Need is Kill.  Its characters always at the "edge of tomorrow", Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt make a much more "effective team" than Cruise did with Andrea Riseborough in last year's sci-fi disappointment OBLIVION.  Seriously though, Cruise and Blunt are in peak form in this movie, each in parts that play to unexpected strength, with Cruise as a multifaceted hero who begins his journey as a sheepish coward, but grows into an alien-slaughtering god of war, and Blunt as a hardcore and ruthless harridan, layered with believable vulnerability, likability and sincerity.  She is one of the more effective depictions of a strong female action hero who remains likable and believable.
Beyond its savvy feminist portrayals and of course the powered suits reminiscent of ALIENS' famous exo-suit power-loader, EDGE OF TOMORROW reminded me a lot of James Cameron's early films, something I would not expect of a Doug Liman film.  Liman's films are usually adequate, like THE BOURNE IDENTITY and MR. & MRS. SMITH, but here, no doubt helped by the screenplay written by Christopher McQuarrie and John-Henry and Jez Butterworth, Liman has almost certainly his best movie to date.  It's a practically perfect summer blockbuster, smarter than average and efficiently carried out in its time-loop format, with thrills, chills and laughs galore. 
The repeated D-Day-esque beach battle is one of the most energetic battle set-pieces in recent memory, with chaotic pyrotechnics on an epic scale and great acting in the midst.  And the aliens.  The "Mimics", a name that's never fully explained, are some of the most unnerving alien creature creations in recent memory; nightmarish clusters of slimy tentacles that spin at high-speed across the battle field like some horrific combination of a spider, an octopus and the black goo from SPIDER-MAN 3.  Those things are effed-up, and as they pounce on the soldiers, it's impossible to avoid that shiver down your spine.
I was not especially interested in EDGE OF TOMORROW, until I heard some of the early buzz, and the movie just sucked me right in with startling visuals, real but not overbearing emotion, and clever efficiency.  Not only is it the biggest surprises of the summer so far, but it's one of the best, arguably the best, film of the summer so far.  It's not expected to do much in the states, up against the unexpectedly formidable THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, but this may be one of the rare cases where an expectedly disproportionate international box office performance is deserved.  So go see THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, because it's good.  But then go see EDGE OF TOMORROW, because it's great.