Public interest is a fickle friend one can never truly predict which might explain why the 2014 Tom Cruise film Edge of Tomorrow is currently trending at number one on the streaming service Hulu. Who could have guessed this film would be front and center in the audience’s hearts and minds at this time?
That’s not to say that this is not a great film. The story is based on a 2004 Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. It was directed by Doug Liman with a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth.
The year is 2015 and it’s not a great one for the human race. Aliens have landed and taken over Europe. Cruise plays Major William Cage who has very little battle experience but is forced to learn when he is ordered to join a landing operation. He stumbles upon a time loop and begins to relive the invasion over and over again which hones his battle skills. During one of these loops, he encounters celebrated war hero Sergeant Rita Vrataski, played by Emily Blunt. The pair team up to loop time and hopefully defeat the aliens together.
Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com praised the film including Cruise and Blunt’s performances. Although it is easy to compare this film to other movies, he argues “Edge of Tomorrow is its own thing. The movie has an organic intelligence and a sense that it, too, exists outside of linear time. It seems to be creating itself as you watch it.”
A sequel was planned but never panned out. If you have yet to watch this film, join the Hulu craze and see what all the fuss is about for yourself.