Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Last Watch Date - July 4, 2026
Total Times Watched - Once
Comments
Is it accurate to say this was a one-time watch when i saw a bunch of pieces (mostly near the end) while I was on vacation recently? It was a weird movie to see pieces of with no context, but now that I've actually watched the whole thing...
First off, as mentioned MANY times before, I love a good time loop. There's something so satisfying about people figuring out the puzzle they're in, usually with a period of desperation when they realize no matter what they try, they cannot break the loop. In most of these instances, there's also a moment of resolve and eventual breakthrough. This movie follows that well-worn path in its own way.
The cast of this movie is hit or miss. Tom Cruise really knows how to make an action movie. I'm not sold on Emily Blunt. Something about her feels off in these types of movies. She's fine in the regular dialogue scenes but her action movie qualities are not good. I was happy to see Coconut Pete in this one too. I miss him. This movie is like 80% Tom Cruise & Emily Blunt, so we'll focus on that. With those two, we've got an A+ action star and a C regular actor stuffed together in this with a sort of .. phoney romance? I never felt any chemistry, but they sure forced it in a couple times.
I enjoyed seeing TC's character go from bumbling pacifist to psychotic murder machine over the duration. Blunt's character had no growth. It makes sense since it was the same day over and over for her I suppose. I found myself not caring about her, though, even though TC surely did over time.
Sometimes I imagine myself in this scenario. What would I do if it were the same day over and over again? Would I try to break it? Have fun doing a bunch of wacky stuff? Sit around staring at a wall? I suppose by your 500th day, you probably do all of those things at some point. If someone knows the way out of it, even if it's not the "ideal way out," would you take it? I think this depends on how many days you've relived. I can't imagine myself trying to find the perfect ending when the chances of it being awful again are there. I think I'd take the way out.
Oh I guess I should mention the sci-fi part of this. It's a pretty typical alien invasion movie. In fact, it felt a bit "meh" in terms of storyline. Aliens are here. They have a hive mentality. We need to get rid of the "Omega" (brain). It's literally the same as Starship Troopers if I think about it, though in that movie we are the invaders. If I'm comparing these two movies, I'm going to rewatch Starship Troopers 9 out of 10 times. It's more fun and silly. This movie plays it very straight.
Recommended?
No. Though I did enjoy it, I don't think it brings anything special to the table. I will forget about this in a year. And I realize this is a weird thing to say when you look at the rating I'm going to give it.
