"Edge of Tomorrow" Movie Review

             Edge of Tomorrow is directed by Doug Liman and stars Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, and Bill Paxton. It is about a futuristic world in which aliens have attacked the Earth, and for a while were winning, but now seem to be weakening, and the humans have invented these machines that they use in battle which work very well against these aliens. Tom Cruise plays a major in the army who does not like to fight in war, but is forced to, and discovers that when he dies, he keeps on going back to the day before battle. Emily Blunt plays an excellent, prestigious warrior who has gone through what Cruise’s character is going through and they work together to help defeat the enemy. Bill Paxton plays the sergeant above Cruise’s character.

            This is a sci-fi/action blockbuster, and it is probably the best it could possibly be in terms of that genre. This is a great, great film. It is very fast-paced, and it is so well edited that it is constantly engaging and never gets dull. From start to finish, this film is a roller coaster ride that never stops. It is fun, edge-of-your-seat, incredible action mixed with very, very smart and original sci-fi.

            This is a greatly directed film. Doug Liman’s style of action for The Bourne  Identity was a very hand-held, shaky, quick-cut style, and although most people said it worked for that movie, I felt it was the same as all of the other action films with a shaky, quick-cut style. After finding out that he was directing this movie, I was scared that he would use that style here. That style would definitely not work here. Thankfully, he does not use that style here. The action is greatly directed. Some shots linger. There are not that many cuts during the action. In the first action scene, there is this fantastic shot that never stops moving. The shot lingers for several seconds. The movements of everyone are also greatly choreographed.

            The visual elements of this film are all great. Doug Liman is a very good visual director. He works very well with the cinematographer to make sure every shot is framed correctly. Every shot in this film is framed greatly. Not one shot seemes off-center. The cinematography for this film is great. Everything looks very good. The lighting is brilliant. The visual effects here are excellent, too. Not once does anything look like it is a visual effect. Not once did I mentally say “Green screen” or “CGI”. There are also times in which there are many, many, many things happening in the background, and it is all done perfectly.

            The performances in this film are another great thing about it. Tom Cruise is easily bought as his character. He is great here. I also bought Emily Blunt as her character. She was great as well. Bill Paxton was great here, too. He was very enjoyable to watch.

            In the mix of all of these great aspects of the film, there is another I will touch on: the script. The script is very smart here. It mixed the sci-fi and action elements perfectly, and the dialogue is great, too. There is some great humor in this film, and that helps be even more enjoyable than it already is. The elements of the narrative are also told brilliantly in this script. The characters are also great. The structure of the characters is very unconventional, and the characters are easy to latch on to. The introduction for all of the characters works very well, and I cared about the characters because of how they were written in the script.

            The editing of this film is fantastic. The film is paced perfectly, and the assemblage of shots used during the action makes it all the more exhilarating. Sometimes shots linger, and sometimes they cut. The editor knows when to keep the shots and when to cut. During scenes with dialogue, the camerawork is handled very well. The editor of this film knows what he or she is doing.

            The ending of this film will be disliked by some people, and hated by some people, but I loved it. I will not say what happens in the end, but I will say that I think it is excellent. I believe it follows the characters perfectly and it continues the sci-fi perfectly.

            I do have some flaws with the film though. For one, there were times when the action became extremely unrealistic and over-the-top. There were times when characters fell and hit something hard, and they came out with no broken bones. There were also a few times when a character was launched a distance and hit the ground bumped around, hit several things, and came out with no broken bones.

            

            My other flaw with the film is that by the end, the direction the characters go in seems a bit familiar. I felt that direction was a bit clichéd and definitely could have been handled better.

            Edge of Tomorrow is an all-around great film: direction, script, cinematography, visual effects, characters, editing, ending, performances, and sci-fi. It is a perfect mix of edge-of-your-seat action and brilliant sci-fi. I do have two flaws with it, but they are very small flaws.