What do you get when you cross between Starship Troopers, Titanfall, and Groundhog Day? You get what is so far the best action film of 2014, right alongside Captain America: The Winder Soldier. Based upon the light novel All You Need is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow’s concept is fascinating: basically alien creatures called Mimics have invaded Earth and slowly began taking over; only unlike other sci-fi aliens they possess a secret weapon, time travel! The Mimics (as they’re called) have these powerful, yet rare, Alpha versions of themselves that when killed in battle reset the entire day so that its hive mind may come up with a better battle strategy; effectively allowing the Mimics to slowly, but surely, win the battles.
The only problem is that when an Alpha’s blood is ingested before dying, that person gains the Mimics’ ability, effectively becoming the reset button whenever he/she dies; which just so happens to deserter William Cage (Tom Cruise), a cowardly soldier with zero battle experience. During one of his many time loops on the battle field he discovers that famous soldier Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) was also once a reset button, which made her a legend for killing hundreds of Mimics until she lost said ability via blood transfusion. Rita tells Cage to find her earlier in his time loop (after he once again dies) so that she can train him in hopes of surviving through the battlefield and finding/destroying the Mimics’ hive mind (a task she was unable to fulfill).
From its trailers I expected Edge of Tomorrow to be one heck of an interesting and entertaining concept, which it was indeed. What I didn't expect however, was the large amount of funny dark comedy throughout. When I earlier mentioned Groundhog Day as one of the films mixed into Edge of Tomorrow’s plot, I wasn't simply referring to their similar premises, but also the laughs they both generate. It may not be the same quantity of jokes as Groundhog Day (which I wouldn't expect), but the highlights do have the same quality of twisted humor. Imagine the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan except one of the soldiers keeps time traveling back one day every time he’s shot…or stabbed…or blown to bits; it sounds more bleak than funny, but Edge of Tomorrow handles it well enough to make me frequently laugh at Cage slowly gaining experience through many deaths.
For example, every time Cage is injured while training he needs to reset (aka die) in order to avoid a blood transfusion and not waste time; resulting in many laughs where Cage unsuccessfully tries to convince Rita (whose a bit too eager triggered to restart) that his leg is not completely shattered so to avoid another “reset” through the head. Bill Paxton also does a great job comedically as Master Sargent Farell, a Southern drill Sargent who gets consistently flustered when Cage’s unexplainable knowledge outwits him. Some of my favorite scenes include a jump cut to a gagged Cage whose seemingly psychic knowledge has freaked out Farell, and Cage trying unsuccessfully to escape training by rolling under a moving truck (much to the bewilderment of Farell). Edge of Tomorrow has just the right amount of dark comedy to work effectively with the rest of the film without taking away from its drama; because despite the laughs, when Edge of Tomorrow gets serious…
…the seriousness works. Both Cruise and Blunt are the film’s primary focus and do a terrific job in portraying soldiers whose powers have granted them a great deal of stress and trauma. Cage’s experience throughout the film mimics (symbolism) Rita’s own past; both going through the pain of slowly growing affection for someone (in Cage’s case, Rita) while simultaneously dealing with seeing them killed over and over and over again. It gets to a point where Cage knows he can complete the mission but only at the cost of her life; becoming reluctant to destroy the hive mind as it will mean the permanent loss of Rita. The film handles the whole situation rather elegantly, as while Rita cannot remember any of her experiences with Cage, her own past experience with such a situation makes her understandably sympathetic towards him; creating a rather satisfying scenario in their relationship.
One aspect that always bothered me in the otherwise wonderful Groundhog Day, was how it ended (SPOILERS TO THE END OF GROUNDHOG DAY) with its female lead…whose also named Rita (hmmm, is that coincidence or a shout out) being seemingly alright with Phil saying they should “live together” despite in her timeline only having known him for a single (though practically perfect) day (END OF SPOILERS). In Edge of Tomorrow Rita and Cage share a kiss right before one of their deaths; in theory this should be out of character for such a ruthless loner as Rita, who’s only known Cage for a day. Yet considering her similar past (seeing someone she cares for constantly die, come back, and forget about their experience every day), it would make sense that she’s much more understanding towards Cage’s feelings. Watch carefully and you’ll see the intensity of their kiss differs from one another; with Cage’s being quite passionate and longing while Rita’s more a sympathetic last request (she quickly breaks away to get back to the mission). The relationship in Edge of Tomorrow is ultimately handled with much depth and understanding, along with more polish than in Groundhog Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment