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Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise & Emily Blunt: Smart, Fast, Funny, Emotional

Posted on June 11, 2014 Written by ripitup

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Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise & Emily Blunt: Smart, Fast, Funny, Emotional
Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt
Image via comingsoon.net

Premise

Aliens called Mimics have invaded the earth, and they are winning. Humans’ chance of survival has increased slightly with the invention of metal suits with several weapons.

The war’s one of the most successful and courageous soldiers is British sergeant Rita (Emily Blunt), also called Full Metal Bitch.

Major Cage (Tom Cruise) is the PR specialist of the US army, an advertising guy who had to join the military after losing his business. Before another battle with the Mimics led by British general Brigham (Brendan Gleeson), Brigham asks Cage to lead a film crew, and record what’s supposed to be a not-so-deadly front.

But when the freaked out Cage declines, and tries to blackmail his way out of it, Brigham sends him off to a base as a fresh recruit/runner, and poor Cage is sent to fight a war with no skills and no knowledge of the weapons they need to wear.

But the supposed mild battle turns into a bloodbath as the aliens knew they were coming, and Cage doesn’t make it through the day alive.

Except he wakes up, day reset, right when he first met his commander Farrell (Will Paxton) yesterday. He can’t figure his way out, and he can’t survive again.

But the day keeps resetting, and when Rita understands what he’s going through, she tells him to find her when he wakes up.

So they start training, and with the help of the brilliant but literally resourceless Carter (Noah Taylor), they try to find a way to win the war.

*

Edge of Tomorrow is the ideal big budget movie: it has great CGI to justify the cost, riveting plot, a lot of action with heart, decent character development and with enough emotional and funny moments to balance the sci-fi and action.

What I especially liked is that our protagonist isn’t a born, trained or willing fighter in the beginning. He’s just a regular, albeit well-educated and healthy, Joe who doesn’t want to die on a battlefield. He’s no soldier. His being in the army isn’t by choice, really. Cruise’s transition from the funny blood-averse man to the mandatory kick-ass soldier is well-performed, and well-timed.

It’s currently 8.2 on IMDB voted by about 40,000 users, and I think it even deserves a 9.

COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE FILM (Not Mine)

Of course there are some popular complaints about the movie, but most of them aren’t relevant to the plot. Let’s go over them one by one anyway:

1)    The lead should have been Asian.

Because the script was adapted from a Japanese graphic novel called All You Need Is Kill, loyal readers aren’t happy the lead is the very white Tom Cruise.

The point is, not everyone reads all graphic novels. I know I don’t. I didn’t even know what the script was based on before researching details after I’ve seen it.

But we are talking about a 178-million-dollar movie here. It doesn’t matter which ethnicity the actor comes from. The producers want to take the least risky path, and who better to front a movie like this than Cruise?

His action/sci-fi movie revenue record speaks for itself. He is also an Oscar-nominated actor (3 times). So basically, if I were a director/studio executive/producer, and could get someone like Tom Cruise or Denzel Washington, I’d be crazy not to.

2)    Tom Cruise is 51.

And? The graphic novel character might be a 25-year-old, but his character is this movie is a Major in the US military. He’s also supposed to have his own advertising business before joining the military. Add the numbers up, and his age makes a lot of sense.

One could argue 51 is too old for to lead an action-packed movie, but if the actor is fit and badass enough, who cares how old he is? And I’m not the only one who thinks Cruise is fantastic for his age or any age in general.

3)    Emily Blunt is 3o.

You can hardly tell there’s a two-decade age gap. She looks ageless, and so does he. They have great chemistry, and they are terrific in their parts. Also, this movie isn’t about their characters falling in love, getting married and raising kids together. Yes, there’s an emotional connection, but considering their circumstances, it makes more sense than majority of the action romances/pairings Hollywood has presented.

4)    The ending doesn’t make sense.

In order not to give spoilers here I won’t get specific. But I find the ending quite right. It fits the logic of the world described in the movie. And since what happens in the end (and what causes it) is the first time it happens in the movie, so previous events can’t be used to refute it.

*

Personally, I loved the movie in its entirety. If there’s a sequel, I will watch it. But I think I prefer this one as a one-off.

 

Favorite Moments

–       How Tom Cruise recites everyone’s lines before they could say anything to make his point.

–       How his character logically and emotionally transforms from an ordinary, violence-averse guy to a leader true/hero through training and what he experiences.

–       The relationship between Rita (Blunt) and Cage (Cruise). It’s for the most part a friendship/comradeship. But an emotional bond is inevitably formed, and not just because Cage gets to experience the same day with different events with her, and getting to know her, but also because she can empathize with him. Even though she technically spends one day with him, he tells her what happened, how she died and how they can last longer. She also had the time-resetting ability he did before.

–       She just shoots him whenever he gets injured or risks captivity. The loss of his own blood, and transfusion of new blood, will cause him to lose the ability, hence forever destroying their chance of winning the war.

 

*

Please do share what you think about Edge of Tomorrow.

*

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Edge of Tomorrow, edge of tomorrow cast, edge of tomorrow movie, edge of tomorrow movie review, Emily Blunt, emily blunt edge of tomorrow, Tom Cruise, tom cruise edge of tomorrow

Lions for Lambs starring Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford & Andrew Garfield

Posted on September 30, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Lions For Lambs starring Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Andrew Garfield and Peter Berg
Lions For Lambs starring Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Andrew Garfield and Peter Berg. Directed by Robert Redford. From 2007.

4 adjectives: Solid, smart, gripping and thought-provoking.

Don’t you love it when you can say these about a movie? The movie was made in 2007. 3 years later, it is still very relevant.

The movie follows three different storylines:

*Reporter Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) interviews Senator Irving (Tom Cruise) in his office.

*Professor Malley (Robert Redford) is talking to a student –Todd (Andrew Garfield) – in his office.

*And in Afghanistan, a group of American soldiers are leaving the “base” for another mission.Peter Berg plays Lt. Col. Falco and he is in charge.

The mission has started a couple of minutes before Irving started speaking to Janine. His purpose and demands are clear. He wants the story to be done by Janine, supporting this mission. Even though Janine tries to question motives and reminds him of the past mistakes, Irving makes great confrontations himself.

At the university, we find out that Todd used to be a great student but he seems indifferent, cynical and apolitical. As their meeting progresses, both Todd and the professor make great points on war, politics, individuality and choices.

The mission fails miserably with only two soldiers surviving.  As we watch to see if the rescue team will get there on time, we will get to know more about these two soldiers’ backgrounds…

This movie is simple. It presents you a lot of point-of-views and it gives them well. All the characters seem right. The movie tells a fine story and holds your interest through fine acting, a brilliant battle of wills/points and a really good script. Perfect direction by Redford.

You need to see the movie to see why it is special. I loved finding out why those two soldiers went to battle and the reason was something I hadn’t seen coming…

At 6.2 on IMDB, this movie is one of the most underrated movies I’ve ever seen. It breaks my heart that Fight Club got an 8.8. Yes, F.C was good, really good. But 8.8 for Fight Club and 6.2 for Lions for Lambs? Of course, these movies have nothing in common. Of course, they belong to totally different genres. But to me, humanity and some solid reality check beats originality. I also happened to watch these on the same day. If you have seen Fight Club, you probably remember how Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden kept asking who Edward Norton’s character would want to fight. He even said Gandhi. Well, then. I am making Robert Redford fight David Fincher. And in my club, Robert beat the crap out of Fincher with this one.

Other Posts on Robert Redford Movies

3 Movies with Indecent Proposals: The Box, Indecent Proposal and A Perfect Murder

Ordinary People starring Timothy Hutton and Donald Sutherland. Directed by Robert Redford

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Taps starring Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise and Sean Penn

Knight and Day starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz

Knight and Day Movie, Cast and Crew Trivia

Tom Cruise Trivia: 24 Facts About Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise: Love him? Hate him? Maybe both…

10 Celebrity Couple Break-Ups You May Not Have Seen Coming

4 Good Movies with Awesome Soundtracks: Shoot ‘em up, Jerry Maguire, Reality Bites and Vanilla Sky

Lestat, Dracula and Other Vampires

17 Changes in the Entertainment World: Featuring Tom Cruise, Robert Pattinson, Megan Fox and More

17 Stable Things in the Entertainment World Featuring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Quentin Tarantino and More

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: 2007 robert redford movie, andrew garfield, drama, lions for lambs, lions for lambs movie, meryl streep, meryl streep movies, movies, peter berg, Robert Redford, robert redford films, robert redford movies, Tom Cruise, Tom Cruise movies

Taps starring Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise and Sean Penn

Posted on August 2, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Taps starring Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise and Sean Penn
Taps starring Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise and Sean Penn. Image via img38.imagefra.me

Bunker Hill Military Academy has been raising students (boys) and educating them for over a century. The students’ ages vary from 12- 17 and they all love their school. General Harlan Bache (George C. Scott) loves being a part of this school and he is very proud one of his new students; Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton) who he has just assigned to be the Cadet Major. Respected and loved by his friends, Brian couldn’t be happier. His new rank gets celebrated by his friends Shawn – Cadet Captain (Tom Cruise), and Cadet Captain Alex (Sean Penn).

However Brian can’t really get to enjoy his new status as the General declares that the school has only 1 year to transfer students and then it will be closed. However he is determined that he and his students can save their school within that one year. Unfortunately, all his plans go to waste when by accident, he shoots and kills a civilian, trying to break up a fight. And now the school is to be closed even sooner and all the weapons are to be confiscated.

Half the school has gone for summer vacation. The rest is depressed, but Brian has other ideas. Why not protect their school? They all love the idea so soon they take back the weapons, store food and start defending. Unfortunately, no one else outside the school seems to regard this as the innocent act  that is. Media, parents, sheriff, cops and soon national guards get involved and are all more than willing to see this as an act of terrorism. All the kids want is to have their school back but pretty soon it turns into a battle of iron wills, and it just maybe a battle that will cost more than anyone bargained for…

I just loved this 1981 gem, Taps. I first thought it would be a comedy about an all boys’ school but soon, it just proved to be one engaging drama with some action attached. It is fun watching Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton all so young. They are all good, so is Evan Handler – Sex and The City’s Harry Goldenblatt. You just might not recognize him so young, thin and well, with hair. He plays Edward West.

The story has a very emotional storyline and even though it didn’t get to me as much as John Travolta’s Mad City did, I really enjoyed the experience.

This is a lovely film on loyalty, honor, friendship and sense of belonging. Based on the novel Father Sky by Devery Freeman. Directed by Harold Becker. Rated 6.5 on Imdb. This is an 80’s film that should be checked out both for its story and acting; as well as for nostalgic value.

 

Other Posts featuring Tom Cruise

Knight and Day starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz

Tom Cruise Trivia: 24 Facts About Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise: Love him? Hate him? Maybe both…

4 Good Movies with Awesome Soundtracks: Shoot ‘em up, Jerry Maguire, Reality Bites and Vanilla Sky

Lestat, Dracula and Other Vampires

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: drama, Evan Handler, George C. Scott, Harold Becker, movies, Sean Penn, taps, Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise

11 Celebrity Trivia Articles Not Featured On My Blog

Posted on July 30, 2010 Written by ripitup

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I write on other websites as well so sometimes those sites fall short of my articles or sometimes my blog does. It is still me, so I thought I will feature the links to my trivia articles published online.

  1. Jennifer Aniston: 22 Facts About Jennifer Aniston
  2. Jennifer Connelly 14 Facts About Jennifer Connelly
  3. Keanu Reeves: Getting to Know Keanu Reeves- Keanu 101
  4. Gerard Butler: 25 Fun Facts About The Scottish Actor Gerard Butler
  5. Clive Owen: 21 Facts About The English Actor Clive Owen
  6. Jake Gyllenhaal
  7. Twilight Actors: Robert Pattinson,Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart
  8. Twilight Actors: (The Cullens) Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, Jackson Rathbone.
  9. Tom Cruise
  10. Bon Jovi: 52 Facts About The Rock Fan Bon Jovi
  11. Mel Gibson: All About Mel: A fun yet fair Mel Gibson tribute
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Filed Under: For Fun: Celebrities, dating, relationships and everything else Tagged With: Bon Jovi, celebrity trivia, Clive Owen, Gerard Butler, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Bon Jovi, Keanu Reeves, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, Twilight, twilight actors, twilight cast

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