Edge Of Tomorrow Review The Tom Cruise Time Loop That Deserved A Bigger Audience

Edge Of Tomorrow Review: The Time Loop Movie You’ve Never Seen

Alright, alright. I know you’re all thinking it – how can you call Edge Of Tomorrow a science fiction movie of the decade when it came out so long ago and most people have barely heard of it? Fair enough, and let me preface this by saying: I saw this in theatres. At San Diego Comic Con, when it was first promoted. And Warner Bros. had literally no idea what to do with this movie. Come for the Tom Cruise? Sure. See Edge Of Tomorrow for the clever time loop action movie it actually is? Not while you can see Ready Player One or Mission Impossible any day of the week, obviously.

EDGE OF TOMORROW (2014) / Directed by Doug Liman / Runtime: 113 min. / Science Fiction, Action

FROM: Max and Claire’s Reviews

It’s 2014 (via Wikipedia), the summer movie season has never been more crowded and Edge Of Tomorrow just didn’t click with audiences theatrically. Despite having a 91% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes (RT) and 71 Metascore score on Metacritic (MC), Edge Of Tomorrow only went on to make $370 million dollars worldwide (Box Office Mojo) on a $178 million dollar budget (via Wikipedia). With a $28 million dollar opening weekend domestically (BO), Warner Bros. obviously did not know how to sell this film to the public.

HOWEVER. Box office numbers never tell the whole story. And Edge Of Tomorrow might be exactly what we say we want in sci-fi films, but don’t actually go see.

TIME LOOPS AS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ENGINE

If you know me, you know I can talk about time loops all day. They’re simple structures with A LOT of potential. Edge Of Tomorrow takes every amazing piece of the time loop formula and packages it into one great movie. I’m sick of people calling time loop stories stupid. Like, Groundhog Day did it first, sure. But no one’s ever done it with style like Edge of Tomorrow. It understands why time loops work.

Typically time loop stories focus on one of the following: the rules of the time loop itself, or using the time loop for comedy. Edge of Tomorrow takes advantage of both, but what really sells the time loop here is the incredible character development you can do with repeating the same day over and over.

If we’re being honest, time loops are the perfect vehicle for forcing your protagonist to grow. Whether they’re learning a lesson about life and trying to get the day right (à la Groundhog Day), or using their time traveling powers for more nefarious reasons, your protagonist will naturally change and evolve throughout your story. In Edge of Tomorrow, Major William Cage goes from being a cowardly public relations officer who has never fired a gun in his life to a tactical badass who might just save the world. He does this by dying literally hundreds of times.

The beauty of Edge of Tomorrow is that we see him die, learn, and improve. We see him study the battle map, learning enemies’ positions. We see him learn fight techniques. We see him fine-tune his combat strategies until he’s ready to go BOSS MODE on the freakin’ aliens.

The movie also takes seriously the toll that dying over and over would have on someone. Cage grows depressed over Rita’s constant deaths, struggles with his own repeating deaths, and questions his own sanity from the loneliness of being the only person who remembers the previous day. While there are plenty of jokes made about the time loop, Edge of Tomorrow also understands that repeating the same day where humanity is getting slaughtered would change you.

Rita Vrataski’s experience with time loops in the past plays into this beautifully. She understands what Cage is going through in a way that no one else can, and their relationship evolves with each repeat of the day. One day she’s skeptical of him, wanting nothing to do with him. The next she sees him as a partner. And by the time she realizes he’s actually helping, she caringly mocks him about it. Seriously, watch Edge of Tomorrow. Emily Blunt sells every single one of her lines in this movie.

VIDEO GAME LOGIC MADE CINEMATIC

I don’t know about y’all, but isn’t it wild to me that Edge of Tomorrow was essentially a cinematic interpretation of video game logic?

I know I talk about video games a lot on here, but hear me out. Time loops are basically the save/reload function of video games. You suck up a bunch of damage, things don’t go your way? Reload your save.

So, let’s watch Cage load into a new game. He starts as this weak noob who literally doesn’t know how to shoot guns. But with each repeated day, he learns. He learns the battle map. He learns enemy placements. He develops fight strategies. He comes to understand how the aliens work and attack. By the time he’s ready to “beat the game”, we’re ready to watch him.

I love how the movie doesn’t info-dump. It SHOWS us Cage learning through his repeated days. We don’t need to know everything about the aliens or the generals’ strategies right away because we’re learning right alongside Cage. This lets the movie explain information naturally without slowing down the action, while also allowing the audience to feel clever when they put two and two together.

Speaking of the action. The beach invasion itself is EXACTLY like a video game mission. At first Cage has no idea what he’s doing. But with each repeated loop, he picks up new information that leads him closer to victory. He finally figures out where enemies are positioned, when they attack, how to avoid them. By the time he’s reached “Level 100”, we’re thrilled we stuck with him.

The aliens even follow this formula. There are low-level Mimics that show up everyday until you reach ALPHA status, aka killing enough Mimics that result in an Alpha appearing. Kill enough Alphas and you’ll be rewarded with ONE MOM GODLIKE ALPHA at the end.

All of this isn’t some weird coincidence. The writer/director Doug Liman played a lot of video games when writing this movie, and he leaned hard into that experience to craft a wonderful narrative.

PRACTICALS AND A KINDRED SOUL IN ALIEN DESIGN

I will never not appreciate a science fiction movie that goes full practical for the sake of having a film feel REAL. Instead of shooting Edge of Tomorrow in a green screen studio, they filmed a good chunk of it on actual beaches with real explosives, practical cars, and practical effects whenever possible.

You can TELL that they put care and effort into the film rather than it just being another visually boring sci-fi movie. Everything pops on screen because they wanted you to feel EVERY SECOND of this movie.

I talked about the aliens a little bit above, but holy crap were they cool. For starters, they didn’t even LOOK like your traditional alien movie monsters. They looked… alien. Garish, metallic tentacles covered in razor sharp blades? Completely alien.

They move around in these weird, skittering organic patterns that seem unnatural, but clearly defined. It’s as if they are animals that have been bred (and mechanically enhanced) specifically to be killing machines.

BUT: what makes them so great is that they FOLLOW RULES. Early on we learn they are vulnerable after they attack, but gain stamina after dodging. We learn they come in swarms, but are weaker on their own. Their main attack is this quick roll attack where all their blades extend at once, but they’re only capable of doing this a few times before needing to recover.

The rules laid out for the aliens are consistent throughout the entire movie and there aren’t any weird “exceptions” that don’t make sense. These aren’t monsters with narrative convenience powers, they’re an alien army with tactics and strategy.

Another tidbit I love? The soldiers’ exoskeleton battle suits. They actually feel realistic as “future combat gear”. Too many sci-fi movies just go FULLPOWERAMMO on the fightsuits and they end up looking ridiculous. The EXOs in Edge of Tomorrow actually feel like something we could realistically achieve within the next couple decades. And when Cage first struggles with wearing his suit? It’s believable. He’s not used to it!¹

Speaking of feeling realistic, everything about the movie just oozes with us-are-fucking-defeated-but-this-might-change-that authenticity. The military hierarchy makes sense. The politics of high-ranking officials argue feels tangible. Even the threat of the alien invasion feels geopolitical enough that it could actually happen IRL.

This authenticity is what makes the imaginative aspects of the movie work so well. They didn’t just chuck us into the future with crazy technology and aliens. They built a future we would recognise and understand so they could then drop some awesome science fiction into the mix.

WHY EDGE OF TOMORROW IS MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS

I get it, we all think of Groundhog Day when we hear about time loops happening in movies. But while Phil Connors learned about life and being a better person by repeating the same day, Edge of Tomorrow is about learning how to be a hero by repeating death.

The movie takes seriously the idea that we’re killing EVERY LAST PERSON on the planet every day. While Groundhog Day is about self-improvement within the comfort of your own hometown, Edge of Tomorrow is Cage slowly learning to save the world by experiencing what it’s like if he didn’t.

And he isn’t completely helpless. Despite the fact that Cage starts the movie a coward who’s job was to convince the public to send soldiers to war they didn’t need to go to, he quickly realizes the advantage he has and uses it to his benefit. He learns from his deaths instead of being defeated by them.

Rita comes to understand his struggle because she’ve experienced time loops before (and fucking kills aliens like a BAMF). As they develop a friendship through understanding the science of the time traveling blood, we get this beautiful relationship that’s rooted in the knowledge that they’ll be separated with every round death.

Speaking of never slowing down, action scenes are just as thrilling with each repeat. Like I said before, every time the day resets we learn something new that gets us closer to accomplishing the mission at hand. Rather than getting bored watching the same battle occur, tension mounts because we know Cage is dying AND the army is losing time.

A FLOPSIDE TO EVERY SUCCESS: EDGE OF TOMORROW’S RELEASE

In 2014, science fiction movies were ruled by YA dystopian adaptations and anything with the words “superhero” in the title. A mind-bending,video game-lover’s dream movie about aliens and time travel came out at the height of summer movies and was immediately swallowed up by bigger budgeted tentpole franchises.

Edge of Tomorrow is the kind of quality, original sci-fi filmmaking that Hollywood loves to brag they support but then completely bombs when it comes to giving these movies the properads they deserve. A smart science fiction film with great characters and an engaging plot? Cheque. Self-aware and respects the audience’s intelligence? Cheque. Groundbreaking visual effects and gorgeous practicals? Cheque.

I can’t even tell you how irritated I am that Warner Bros. pulled this movie’s marketing because they thought people would ONLY come to see it for Tom Cruise. Dude plays a public relations man whose never been in a real war who convinces the media FIGHT IS ON LET’S GO mothers to send more soldiers to die on foreign soils. Hell, make a movie about him selling the fake out.

But that’s a conversation for another day. What’s most interesting to me about Edge of Tomorrow’s release is that it came at the absolute perfect time for our current political climate.

Edge of Tomorrow deals heavily with the ethics of war. With how our society views soldiers. With government officials trying to push their own agendas in a time of war. How much of this movie felt like current events to me?

Similarly, the entire movie is built on a mutual cooperation between American and European forces. While we traditionally see America swooping in to save the day with our “superior” technology and weapons, Edge of Tomorrow spends it’s time building a united front between the UK and the US. Rita is British. The main invasion is taking place in Europe. Even our male lead is cured by a British warrior woman.

I can only hope that in a few years we look back on Edge of Tomorrow as film that was ahead of its time. As video game movies become more popular and story diving becomes less taboo, I think audiences are more accepting of a movie like Edge of Tomorrow being released today.

Remember when everyone lost their shit about Groundhog Day: The Video Game being a real movie? They didn’t bat an eye when Deadpool made $760 million. Times are changing, people.

SO WHY DOES EDGE OF TOMORROW DESERVE BETTER?

Here’s the thing about Edge of Tomorrow: it ticks ALL the fucking boxes we love in sci-fi movies, and yet you guys didn’t come see it?! ?

It was original rather than an adaptation. It had a smart, clever plot. It didn’t talk down to its audience. It balanced intense action with amazing sci-fi concepts. It had two amazing leads that brought their A-game to a story that challenged them both.

I could watch Edge of Tomorrow on so many levels. As an action packed blockbuster, sure. As a narrative mystery that has you piecing together the clues alongside our protagonist? You got it. As a character study on how to learn from your mistakes? Yes please. As genuine science fiction about alien invasions and manipulating time? YOU BETCHYA.

Doug Liman knew the concept of a time loop could be used to ask big questions about warfare, mentality, and what it takes to be a hero. He used the repetitive nature of the time loop as a narrative tool to really dig deep into his characters instead of using it as a gimmick.

Tom Cruise was absolutely phenomenal here. I love Tom Cruise. Always have, always will. But he often sticks to the same schtick in every movie he makes. Here, we see him take a role that’s completely opposite of who we expect him to be and embraces it. He’s never been in a real war? Guess what I haven’t either. He’s afraid of dying? LET ME SHOW YOU HOW TO DIE.

Emily Blunt was everything I want in a sci-fi warrior woman. She was funny, sassy, AND an intelligent fighter. She brought nuance to a role that could have easily been a “character we love to hate” and made Rita feel like a well-rounded badass you’d want fighting your alien invaders.

We bitch about remakes and sequels taking over Hollywood, yet when a truly original film with actual craft and creativity gets released, you stay the hell away? Edge of Tomorrow was Fucking earned that 7.9 on IMDb (source)

This entry was posted in Movies and tagged action movies , aliens , science fiction movies on July 30, 2020 by Claire Cheshire .

Luna Vega

Luna Vega is the heart and soul of everything fandom-related at Dystopian Lens. She’s an optimist who loves diving deep into the lore of cult-classic sci-fi films and shows, crafting detailed analyses and exploring fan theories that keep readers hooked. Whether attending conventions or cosplaying her favorite characters, Luna is all about creating a positive, inclusive space for fans to share their love of sci-fi. With a passion for space exploration and complex plot twists, she brings an infectious energy to everything she writes, making her the perfect voice for the sci-fi superfan community.