Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow is not, as it happens, Groundhog Day with guns and aliens. Oh, the central conceit is similar; both films feature information-based time travel, in which our protagonist re-lives recent events, remembering each prior pass, while nobody else is aware that time seems to be looping. And of course, given that ability, both Tom Cruise's reluctant soldier and Bill Murray's unlikable weatherman adopt similar strategies, at least at first, but Groundhog Day is a comedy about being banished to Hell and finding redemption while looking for an escape, and Edge of Tomorrow is straight-up military science fiction about saving the world.

(Is Groundhog Day a deeper, more meaningful film? I think it is, yes.)

I loved Edge of Tomorrow. It dragged in parts, leading with a particularly annoying bit of dragging at the very beginning, when a news montage telling the story of the alien invasion took twice as long as it needed to, but the film's opening act embedded us in the invasion perfectly, letting us experience the horrors of war without, you know, experiencing the horrors of war. Not nearly at the Saving Private Ryan level, mind you, and I'm fine with that.

Unlike Groundhog Day, the time-travel loop in Edge of Tomorrow had a couple of very chilling rules associated with it, and those added tension and darkness in just the right way, for me at least. They did make the Act II Disaster a little predictable, but I've gotten pretty good at not letting my understanding of this sort of story-structure get in the way of enjoying the movie.

Emily Blunt was perfect, and if you're NOT a Tom Cruise fan, you may find him to be ESPECIALLY perfect, at least for the first 20 minutes. I really liked despising his character.

Were there plot-holes? Well, yes. Of course there were. But I really enjoyed the film in the theater (I saw the 2D version) and will likely enjoy picking it apart with friends in the weeks to come.  Edge of Tomorrow comes in at #6 for me for the year so far