There is a whole industry in these relive the same day over and over again movies. The first one was from back in the early 1960s, “Dead Of Night”, where a guy is stuck in a recurring nightmare and many years later here came the romcom “Groundhog Day” to teach Bill Murray a cosmic lesson. Then the deluge, “50 First Dates”, “Christmas Day”, “Haunter” and now “Edge Of Tomorrow” where something called Mimics have invaded the earth and Tom Cruise is reliving the same day and Emily Blunt is helping, till they destroy the aliens.
Directed by “Bourne Again” Doug Liman, Tom keeps on returning to the beaches of Normandy to save the world, being killed and resetting and trying again. Each time, he moves a little further along, as Steven Rea of the Philadelphia Inquirer noted, it isn’t unlike the reset on your XBOX. And for what it is worth that bit does work. But the movie has already stiffed at the box office and it can’t be simply because people are creeped out by Tom Cruise.
Nope, the problem is that the romance doesn’t work; it is somewhat unbelievable. I mean, I realize, it is all unbelievable but the suspended disbelief of the conceit goes without saying but the romance should find traction and it doesn’t really so you are stuck watching an unlikable story over and over again. Bang bang but no kiss kiss -they only kiss once and that is at the end.
Cruise is very good in the lead role and Emily Blunt is a strong and steady presence but it is just not a great fantasy, all the blood and good and death -it just doesn’t work for me.
Grade: B
