Say what you will about Tom Cruise, but he has, by all accounts, a tremendous work ethic and is always fully dedicated to giving the audience maximum entertainment value for their money. With "Edge of Tomorrow", he succeeds. The film's finale, by necessity, falls short of what comes before, but the film as a whole is consistently enjoyable.
Cruise may not always play the most complex characters, but he's found a niche where he manages to succeed both financially and artistically. He plays "earnest" very well, coming across believably and, in turns, either dramatic or amusing as the man who knows a dark truth no one else will believe. He's tackled similar territory before in "Minority Report", but gets a bit more of a character arc here. At the film's beginning his character is, ironically, much like the negative stereotype of Tom Cruise many of his detractors seem to view him as. He's a smug, entitled guy who's convinced he has the pull to get whatever he wants out of others. As the film progresses and he's caught in a time loop, he undergoes a slow transformation, ultimately becoming someone willing to make a self-sacrifice for the greater good. This development is well "hidden" by the film. It occurs alongside an equally compelling main story that allows it to feel natural, not forced or artificial. The other actors ably support the film. Emily Blunt plays a famous war hero who works with Cruise, trying to find a way to destroy the aliens they are fighting. Their relationship forms the emotional backbone of the story as it changes depending on the actions he takes each time through the loop. Brendan Gleeson is good in a couple of scenes as a British General who is responsible for putting Cruise's character into his predicament in the first place. The only performance I had a little trouble with was Bill Paxton's "good old boy" officer who is in command of the troops Cruise is assigned to. Paxton's clearly having fun with the role, but maybe a little too much. I'm a fan of his work in general, and certainly found him amusing here, but he was over the top to the point that his character didn't seem to be in the same movie as the other actors.
The film has invariably been compared to "Groundhog Day", and while the similarities are obvious, calling it a rip-off is unfair. After all, I'm sure "Groundhog Day" wasn't the first time anyone had thought to have a story involving a character living the same day over again. "Edge of Tomorrow" manages to make the concept its own. It does feature many scenes and jokes that one would expect in a movie with the plot device, but let's face it: it would actually be disappointing if it didn't. The film also benefits from having a tangible goal for the hero to be working towards: finding and destroying the aliens' Cthulhu-esque leader/central brain, thus ending their invasion. Even though we see Cruise going through the same day over and over, he is still making progress towards this goal, giving the film valuable forward momentum. The main conceit may be a gimmick, but it's an effective gimmick, and the film commits to it.
The final twenty minutes or so are a little disappointing. They're about on par with what you'd get from a typical action film, but don't live up to the originality and excitement that was present in most of the film. This is an unfortunate necessity. It's not much of a spoiler to say that, near the end of the film, Cruise's character loses his ability to relive the same day. This is necessary to provoke dramatic tension. The characters are about to launch their final attack, and if Cruise was able to restart in the event that they failed, there's no reason to be truly invested in the outcome. The downside is that the film is forced to sacrifice what has made it unique thus far. Now the characters are in a situation just like any other action-adventure film's climax. I'm not completely sure how I feel about the very ending of the film. Plotwise, I either didn't get the science (to use the term loosely) of what was going on, or it was a major cheat. Emotionally, however, it felt like the right ending, so I was inclined to give it a pass. Cruise sold the last shot well.
Despite a climax that doesn't live up to the film as a whole, "Edge of Tomorrow" is a really fun, imaginative film. I expect that it will end up being one of the best "Summer Movies" released this year. I'm very glad to see a studio taking a chance on a film like this--one without much of a built in fan base, and without much sequel potential to boot. Creatively, that risk has paid off. Hopefully it will pay of financially as well, inspiring more risks in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment