Tom Cruise has made some of the best action blockbusters of all time, is keeping practical stunt work alive in an era of CGI goop, and is arguably the last true cinematic superstar… but sometimes, don’t you just want to punch him right in his smug face?
Admit it. He’s got that cocky grin that says he knows just how charismatic he is. He’s 62 and in better shape than most of the people reading this. And then there’s the Scientology and its associated scandals that we all try to ignore because he’s really, really good at ramping motorcycles over and off of a wide variety of objects. Deny it all you want, but director Doug Liman knows you think Cruise should be taken down a notch. Why else would Liman choose to cast him in a movie where he gets killed again, and again, and again?
Edge of Tomorrow, which has hit Netflix just months after its 10th anniversary, has frequently had its premise compared to a video game, as Major William Cage gets stuck in a time loop on the eve of a desperate offensive meant to push back a long and brutal alien invasion. Cage uses this newfound power to slowly and painstakingly turn the tide of a losing struggle as he memorizes the movements of the octopian “mimics,” growing more effective against them every time he resets the day he’s trapped in.
But this would be boring if Cruise began the movie as a confident badass à la Ethan Hunt, so instead he plays against type as a smarmy cur. Introduced as a public affairs officer so scared of combat that he tries to blackmail a general rather than be introduced to it, he’s thrown into a platoon that despises him and promptly gets himself killed on what’s essentially D-Day with aliens and power suits. But he takes an unusual-looking mimic down with him, and its black blood gushes into his mouth right before he wakes up to Bill Paxton’s sass, just like he did when the day began.
It's a fun sci-fi twist on the classic Groundhog Day premise, as Cage gets his feet under him, memorizes everything there is to know about his fellow soldiers, and slowly progresses from hapless rookie to relentless killing machine as he begrudgingly embraces the destiny that’s been thrust upon him. And to do this, he dies. He dies so often.
Cage is shot, blown up, bludgeoned, run over, drowned, ripped apart, and foiled by gravity. Sometimes his demise is predictable, sometimes it’s planned, and sometimes it’s completely out of nowhere. Done differently, this could be dark, but Cage makes such a terrible first impression that it’s amusing to watch his struggles, right up until his sheer doggedness begins to win you over.
Aiding Cage on his journey to competence is Sergeant Rita Vrataski, who Emily Blunt plays as everything Cage is not. A stoic slaughter machine, the so-called Angel of Verdun led humanity to its only major victory, because she was the only soldier to stumble into the alien’s time-travel powers before Cage got his unwitting hands on it. With humanity’s sole advantage having accidentally passed from a one-woman army to a self-centered sleazeball, it’s up to Vrataski to whip Cage into shape while avoiding the ire of superior officers who would either dismiss them as crazy or turn them into lab rats.
Cruise’s arrogant smarm is a fun foil to Blunt’s straight-laced soldiery, especially when Vrataski doesn’t hesitate to put Cage down like Old Yeller and restart the day the moment a training session goes awry. It’s a simple but effective dynamic, as Vrataski’s companionship encourages Cage to put the rest of humanity before himself, and Cage, in turn, opens her mind to some sneakier forms of warfare.
Seeing the duo fight, train, scheme, and bond is the highlight of the film, as the stars quickly establish a rapport that keeps all the death and failure from getting too heavy. Based on the Japanese novel All You Need is Kill, the movie’s light, pulpy roots are evident in the exoskeletons soldiers wear and the Cloud Strife-worthy sword that Vrataski lugs into battle for no good reason beyond the fact that it looks rad. These touches help spice up the otherwise unremarkable sci-fi action, and while the climax throws out much of what made the rest of the film work in a clunky attempt to up the stakes, by that point you’ll be invested enough to happily finish.
Edge of Tomorrow was Cruise’s last foray into sci-fi before he began churning out Mission: Impossible sequels, while Blunt, aside from A Quiet Place and its even quieter sequel, has left the genre behind as well. That’s a shame, because with all due respect to Blunt’s contributions to the art of drama in Oppenheimer, Sicario, and Sherlock Gnomes, it would be a joy to once again see her grimace and grunt as she guns down aliens. Cruise, meanwhile, would do well to remember that if he ever finds himself amid scandal again, all he needs to do is play a cowardly jackass we still can’t help but root for… once he gets what’s coming to him.
