Edge of Tomorrow

Was my birthday on Thursday, so Hubbs took me out for movies today.

We picked “Edge of Tomorrow” in 3D, because it looked like a scifi alien movie, and we’re currently much into those.  But with a weakish title like that, I was sort-of preparing myself to be underwhelmed, nothing as spectacular as Avatar, and so.

Was I surprised!

I don’t watch war movies, so the politics in the beginning leading to the wimpish major called Cage (Tom Cruise) being thrown in with the new recruits, basically as a decoy, wasn’t promising.  After a bit of macho parading of warry hero types, you got thrown into the battlefield…  and that was where the plot gripped me and wouldn’t let go anymore.  The battlefield was the worst I’d ever watched in any scifi or alien movie.  There was literally no way out, they were all going to die, chaos was all that prevailed – and correct:  There was no way out.

I don’t want to spoil the movie for those who haven’t yet watched it, but to all the 80’s and 90’s babies out there:  If you’ve seen the sequel of “Alien” with Sigourney Weaver, on the prison planet, then you have a comparison of the feel of the movie.  The storyline was uniquely different though, and reminds me of my favourite computer game Spellforce, where you sometimes inch forward, and sometimes you have to sleep on it, strategize, think how to get out of a particular dead-end.  The aliens themselves were very well presented; and though there seem to be a couple of loose ends (such as, why the alien should take over Earth in the first place – the answer is actually quite obvious, a lot of biological species when taking a new habitat, take all of it).

It was amazing watching the transition from helpless cowardice to steely-spined determination that the hero makes.  In summary, it’s a brilliant movie, different from (and better than) many I’ve watched.  As for Armageddon-style movies it is easily on par with “The Day After Tomorrow”, “Deep Impact”, “2012” (I found the latter a bit overdone); but its plot is less straightforward, and it has more depth.  Delightfully, there are no kissy scenes at all.

There were only two things I didn’t like about it:

Firstly how expendable Europe is to the American film makers (the aliens first land somewhere in central Europe and from the later scenes it becomes clear that nobody and nothing survives this);  and secondly, the title.  It’s a weak title.  They should have picked a better one.

I’m definitely planning to watch the movie again.