I WAS SURPRISED WITH HOW MUCH I LOVED EDGE OF TOMORROW

In Edge of Tomorrow, aliens land on Earth and Earth decides to fight back. Cage (Tom Cruise), a Major who is in charge of PR for the upcoming battle dubbed Operation Downfall, is ordered by his superiors to take part in the fight. He is forcibly shipped into the front lines where he and the rest of the army are defeated and killed, he then has to relive that terrible day over and over and over again.

 For the first 40 minutes of the film, Tom Cruise plays the biggest damn coward you will ever see, and we get to watch him die many gruesome deaths. Yes, it is huge fun (and very funny) getting to see Tom Cruise dying repeatedly, and I loved that at first his character is so not the typical Tom Cruise we get in films. Cruise is playing at a level we haven't seem him at in a long time. Emily Blunt is also the hottest she has ever been as the hardcore, ass-kicking soldier Rita. She is super impressive here, and I actually dug the relationship between Rita and Cage (Luckily for us it never turns into a full on romance).  

I saw the film in 3-D and I thought it was some of the best 3-D I have seen in a while. Things are constantly jumping into the theater or into your face, but at the same time we get great depth as well. The whole film is shot in such a way that with 3-D you really do feel like you are there. I love that this isn't cheap science fiction either, it's actually pretty strong stuff.

The director of the film is Doug Liman, who also directed Jumper and The Bourne Identity. He actually does a pretty great job here, he is clearly a competent and smart action director. He knows what he's doing. It also helps that the script by Christopher McQuarrie, Jezz Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth is a strong one which has been adapted from a Japanese Manga named All You Need Is Kill (This was the film's original title as well until what I assume was studio interference led them to change it. I honestly still prefer the original title, it sounds more bad-ass). 

In a nutshell: Edge of Tomorrow is what happens when you mix a sci-fi alien invasion film with Groundhogs Day and Call of Duty. It's almost like watching a video game complete with all the deaths and restarts the player has to go through.  I was surprised at how great the result was (especially with Blunt and Cruise as the leads, they are both spectacular and make the film that much more fun). My only real complaint was how they kind of backpedaled on the ending. Edge of Tomorrow truly is an original, innovative, creative, very funny, and endlessly entertaining film that most definitely is worth your time and money. It's the best film I have seen in theaters for a while, and you should definitely see it (in 3-D, if possible).

4.5 STARS