Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *
Cast: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton, Jonas Armstrong, Tony Way, Terrance Maynard, Kick Gurry, Franz Drameh, Charlotte Riley, Dragomir Mrsic, Masayoshi Haneda, Lara Pulver, Madeleine Mantock,
Assly Zandry, Sebastian Blunt, Beth Goddard, Ronan Summers, Aaron Romano, Usman Akram, Bentley McKinley, Andrew Neil, Martin Hyder, Tommy Campbell, John Dutton, Harry Landis, Rachel Handshaw, Martin McDougal, Jane Hill, Anna Botting.
Tom Cruise divides opinion more often than those who openly declare their reasons for voting for a particular political party and those who want to smack their heads in disbelief. There are those who could watch him all day long and profess love for his portrayal of the tortured, maniacal, outrageous, and despairing searcher of truth action man that he seems to have played all his life. Then there are those who just despair.
Edge Of Tomorrow though really throws its science fiction weight around and lands smack right in the middle of opposing camps, for those who love film but find the American actor just too much to bear, this is actually the most perfect film in which to admire him in as he isn’t playing Tom Cruise for at least 80 per-cent of the running time. You even find yourself sympathising with his plight as he dies over and over again in a film in which actually manages to stay alive all the way through.
The biggest surprise might be Emily Blunt’s portrayal of battle hardened fighter Rita. Anybody having caught her work over the last decade might be slightly taken aback by this new direction in films, like the film itself it could divide fans. It is a far cry from what you would expect of an accomplished actor.
Even if Tom Cruise doesn’t float your acting boat, then the main reason to see this film is to catch the ever impressive Bill Paxton play up to military type as the Master Sergeant Farrell. For the short time he is actually on screen, Bill Paxton really gives the film a huge lift as he deals out the punishment, both verbally and physically to Tom Cruise’s busted character over and over again.
Aside from the allusions to the Second World War, the creatures at the centre of this film are actually well drawn upon but you can’t help but feel at times that in another life, Bill Murray would have done more damage to the entire North American continent in search of the gopher in Caddishack, who somehow has managed to trap him in a never ending cycle of living the same day over and over again.
The notion of reset is also just a little too close to how many would view the video games industry, a film in which you mildly enjoying and in which has the ability to capture your attention for a while is in parts, nothing short of console game made by a 20 year old who knows that life in a game means having at least a thousand goes at the same level.
Edge Of Tomorrow is great for escaping the reality of life for a while, a good way to while away a couple of hours and without a single gopher or Groundhog in sight to upstage the cast.
Ian D. Hall