Poor Tom Cruise. He still hasn't quite shaken his wacky Scientology associations or the jumping on the couch thing. Which is too bad, because even in his latter years, he is a good actor who usually picks movies that showcase his abilities well. He also pours his heart into these things, especially genre pictures. The guy does not hold anything back. He obviously devotes himself to his craft and bringing each character to life. He does that as well in the unfortunately titled Edge of Tomorrow, whose vague attempts at being deep stink of corporate boardroomism, almost as much as any movie title with "Rise" in it.
But that's ok, because when you get into the meat of this film, which comes across as a mash-up of Groundhog Day and Starship Troopers, you end up with a much better film than one would think it is or perhaps better than it has a right to be. I'm not sure why it is so good, either, as the director (Doug Liman) and writer (Christopher McQuarrie) come across as kinda average in their credits. Some good films, some decent, some stinkers. But the stars must have been shining on this production, because everyone mentioned above, co-star Emily Blunt (Sergeant Rita Vrataski) and supporting actors like Bill Paxton all are on point in this tight and thoughtful scifi actioner.
The scenario is this. Earth is being invaded by an alien race called the Mimics, who seem to operate on some kind of hive organization. They swarm their targets and have Earth's forces on their backs. But the situation has forced unity not seen since World War 2 and a huge offensive is planned to take Europe. Casualties are expected to be enormous. But victory is shouted from the rooftops in anticipation of this, the biggest mechanized landing in world history. Pumping this fact is United States Military Major (the US apparently has unified it's forces under one organization) William Cage. He is a Public Affairs Officer, one of the officers trained to be the mouthpiece and public sellers of military activities. We find out later that the war, naturally, has been hard on the economy, and Cage joined the military because his ad agency went under. He is glad to be the face of the military and the war effort, but when one general wanted him to land with the advance forces in the coming invasion, Cage balks, panics, does some stupid things and ends up arrested, busted and thrown into an infantry squad with the grunts. He doesn't even know how to properly operate the basic equipment of a combat soldier and when he lands on the beach and finds his unit unexpectedly under fire, he stumbles and panics, flip flopping around, where he runs into Sergeant Vrataski, who is one of the heroes of the war. He then encounters an Alpha alien, and after killing it with a mine, its blood soaks into him. He dies...and wakes up under arrest with a sergeant screaming at him.
But he has seen this scene before. And again. And again. Every time he dies, he starts out at that point. So, he goes forward, trying to do things a little differently. Buy him some more time. Learn to be a better soldier, a more effective warrior, learn more and try to discover the secret of what has happened to him and not only how to stop it, but potentially win the war.
Are we destined to march down a prelaid path? Are we masters of our fate? Or is it all an interaction of elements? A road we are stuck on? A banquet we feast at? Or a cosmic relationship in which we give, take and partake?
I'd check out Edge of Tomorrow. I can't say it offers definitive answers to those big questions. To do so would kind of defeat the point anyway. But it will help prod some weighty questions as well as give you a good time at the theater.
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