Edge of Tomorrow

Resetting the day. Edge of Tomorrow is directed by Doug Liman and collectively written by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth. It stars Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, with music by Christophe Beck and cinematography by Dion Beebe. It has proved to be a great decade for sci-f, it seems that for every misfire there are three great genre films to off set the disappointments. Sitting at the top end of the table is Edge of Tomorrow (AKA: Live Die Repeat). Adapted from Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel "All You Need Is Kill", the story has Cruise as William Cage, an American army Major who upon being thrust into combat against an alien race decimating Earth, finds he awakens to the same day after being killed in action. Seeking out Rita (Blunt), the most decorated soldier of the time, Cage must understand what is happening to him and hopefully save the future of mankind. So far so Groundhog Day/Source Code then, but Liman's film never lets up from the get go, frenetic with its action, funny into the bargain, and also sexy, it manages to blend audience pleasing conventions with clever thought and process. There's nothing new in the philosophy on show, and there are regular sci-fi tropes for familiarity of genre, but if you are going to recycle formula then do it with verve and swagger, which this most assuredly does. Boosted by Cruise turning in a good one as an unlikable character who develops into a protag to shout for, and Blunt as a super sexy bad-ass poster girl for the war effort, Edge of Tomorrow ultimately rocks. The science will obviously infuriate those who take such things way too seriously, but as the terror of this particular war unfolds on screen (nifty effects), and we have been bought wholesale into our heroes and their quest, its small failings are hardly worth cocking a snook at. 8/10