Edge of Tomorrow

I’m fascinated that the American viewer (the sponsor of the American filmmaking industry) prefers a commercial mishmash called Transformers to an imaginative sci-fi called Edge of Tomorrow, where the name essentially does not reveal anything and the movie can only surprise. The Japanese are known for always having great storylines in their stories and comic books, and I’m glad that finally one of those got this kind of interpretation with Tom Cruise in the leading role. For me, he will probably always be the actor who has signed up for sci-fi movies. Considering he’s a Scientologist, I’m not even surprised that he makes such films. I’m actually very happy that he’s the one to do it, because it fits him the most. As a result, after watching the film, I thought hard about whether to give it five stars. I had a slight issue with the camera, which blurred my vision in a similar way a decent 5 km run can. But that is Doug Liman for you. However, if not for his directing, I might not have seen such an amazing change in Tom’s role. So I can only add that this film has its pros and cons, but even so, it is probably my favorite one from this year’s movies. (20/06/2014)

Very well executed concept known from Groundhog Day, Source Code and probably every sci-fi series ever made. At the beginning, the hero is introduced without any heroic attributes and the pandemonium of war that follows during the landing in Normandy sets the bar very high. And it holds there damn long. Edge of Tomorrow only stumbles a little by the end, where the thus far relatively reaistic battles (to the extent than a battle between people in exoskeletons and giant tentacled aliens can be described as “realistic”) abandon the realism and now they are falling from huge heights without any injuries and the entire final fight goes too smoothly, especially considering how important it is and how it goes straight down to business. That said, it’s an excellent action sci-fi blockbuster of the kind that has been missing in cinemas for a long time. The action is spectacular, Cruise and Blunt have good chemistry and the script also has a couple of nice moments. (30/05/2014)

This technological blockbuster, which in the long post-production process was given a coat by the special effects artists that models would die for, earns points mainly with the merciless thrill of the war. This war borrowed all over the place to wring out a surprisingly clever, pleasantly black-humored (headshots!) spectacle, which is only shattered by the skeleton's lack of a more driving conclusion to bring the film's entire video-game architecture to an absolute climax; otherwise, it's flawlessly acted, musically compelling, and directorially as confident as few in the genre in recent years. 4 ½. (06/09/2014)

So what did I like? That there was a sense of Japanese sparseness in the narration and portrayal of the characters. The action/drama was subtly diluted with humor, or a little romance, but nothing that made you roll your eyes. I didn't see a single American flag, didn't hear the American national anthem, and there wasn't even anyone giving stupid patriotic obnoxiously cliched speeches about how important it was to man up and go out and fight and that we're going to show these aliens what for and blah blah blah. It just wasn't there, and I cheered. Plus the characters were portrayed as people, with their own problems, their own histories, so they weren't just flat characters with a gun in their hands and some catchphrase. But what I liked best was the interplay between Cruise and Blunt, just a joy to watch. Granted, it did lose momentum towards the end and it felt like the film was squeezing out the last drops (but maybe I was squeezing out the last drops because the theater was sweltering), but it ended well and I left very satisfied in the end. This is exactly the blockbuster I wanted – an unpretentious film, and yet it has an engaging story, a quality cast, a decent OST, and action that wasn't shot with a shaky camera, so the viewer could see something and enjoy it too. Nice, and I have no choice but to say – keep it up. (05/06/2014)

Dark Souls? Aliens? Groundhog Day? Starship Troopers? Source Code? The Twilight Zone? Saving Private Ryan? All of the above (and not nearly just them) are clearly recognizable in this movie. Fundamentally, this has it all - almost - just a respectable and proper ending is missing. However, the mandatory blockbuster inoffensive finale is luckily preceded by a sufficiently playful and peculiar cocktail of the aforementioned ingredients and not just a mere distillation of what you have already seen countless times elsewhere. (05/06/2014)