Edge of Tomorrow

aka All You Need is Kill

2014
Screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth
Based on the novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Directed by Doug Liman

It’s come to our attention thanks to the multitude of video games being adapted into film, that the transition from the one media to the other is just too rife with problems to work. From Mario Mario walking the dinosaur in an alternate dimension to Kristin Kreuk seductively dancing for bathroom funtime, no one seems to have any idea how to turn video games into non-terrible cinema. Which is part of why Edge of Tomorrow is amazing, because it is the perfect video game movie! All they had to do was base it on a book…

Beyond the obvious video game connections, Edge of Tomorrow is a fun action film that stands out from the dour “dark and gritty” or somber 9-11 commentary that so often infects modern action cinema. It really took me by surprised just how entertaining it would be. I was expecting a more serious action drama that took itself too seriously, but that was quickly dashed once the resurrection jokes began.

An alien invasion and a time loop is the setting for Edge of Tomorrow. Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) does military PR, having the terrible job of trying to spin nonstop losses into recruitment drives for more meat for the grinder. With a full scale invasion of the European continent imminent by the humans, Cage is in England where he’s told he’ll be joining the battle on the front lines. Cage attempts to talks his way out of the assignment, but ends up arrested for disobeying orders and awakens in handcuffs on a military base where he’s informed he’s a private and a deserter who will be thrown into battle during the invasion which happens in 24 hours.