Edge of Tomorrow: sci-fi's version of Groundhog's Day is surprisingly entertaining

Talking about actors that truly bug me on screen, Tom Cruise is on the top of that list!  I have not enjoyed a Tom Cruise film since Top Gun and Risky Business.  His real-life arrogance oozes all over every character he plays on screen.  And as an action star, he has the goofiest run, and the most awkward physicality in fight scenes.  There is no power or sense of danger, I just can't help but laugh when watching him act the tough guy...not believable!

With that said, this is by far the best Tom Cruise movie in a very long time!     #EdgeofTomorrow  

Based on the novel, All you need is kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, Edge of Tomorrow is a fun, exciting, and engaging ride.  All though the plot is recycled, pun intended, the film keeps the story line and each reincarnation fresh with intrigue, humor, and exciting action.

Edge of Tomorrow is smartly written with a fantastic pace, to the point that makes Tom Cruise look good on screen.  It's one wild ride that engaged my interest and kept it the entire journey.

Emily Blunt takes off the Prada and dawns chiseled muscles dirt and grit with a metallic war hardened personality intimating in her battle armor while sword slicing through Mimics left and right.

The look of the film is gritty and full of the violence of war.  The body armor the soldiers wear are very cool and gives every soldier, even Tom Cruise, a "bad ass" look.  However, in a practical sense, they do seem cumbersome and clunky but that may be based on the users experience.                                                                                                

The Mimics are well designed with a mix of machinery and animalistic organic.  They do, however, remind me greatly of the Sentinels from the Matrix movies in the way they move and their overall squid like influence.

  

Edge of Tomorrow Mimic

Matrix Sentinel

Overall, a great enjoyable ride with even a charming and budding love interest, perhaps not as charming as the romantic comedy version of Groundhogs Day, but an imaginative and thrilling experience. If Tom Cruise looks good, you know they are doing something right.


In the end, I'm placing this as number 2.  Although a great fun summer movie.  X-Men:  Days of Future Past is just really hard to top right now.

1.  X-Men:  Days of Future Past
2.  Edge of Tomorrow

3.  Maleficent

4.  The Amazing Spider-Man 2

5.  Godzilla

Maleficent: Nothing Special, but a Fun Night at the Movies

#Maleficent isn't anything super awesome, but it does provides a fun experience.  It also has many parallels with the musical Wicked to The Wizard of Oz.  we get to see the same story told, but from the "evil" characters perspective.

Maleficent is a retelling of Disney's original Sleeping Beauty animated film made in 1959 which was Disney's 16th full length animated film.  This was also Disney's last animated film based on fairy tales due to its low box office grossing until Little Mermaid.  





I will preface this review with that typically I do not care for Angelina Jolie.  She is just one of those actors that bugs me with her oversexed, pouty, predictable characters.  With that said, she was an excellent choice for this film.  She displays power, despair, loss, and compassion with equal sincere honesty.  My only "complaint", or more accurately, an annoyance was her evolution to evil.  I will call this the "Anakinader Event".  Maleficent experiences extraordinary loss and betrayal which warrants her passage into evil, but it seems to happen awkwardly quick, as though a mental switch was flipped.  However, her growth throughout the rest of the show feels justified and we get to see her emotional evolution which is humorously touching.

It was also fun to see Sharlto Copley as Stefan in this rags to riches king.  His characters tend to be boisterously aggressive, and high energy as demonstrated in District 9, The A-Team, and Elysium.  In this role, he comes across mentally unstable and irrationally paranoid.  He plays the neurosis well as demonstrated in previous roles.    

The look of the film is at times breathtaking and at all times natural and believable.  The design of The Moors was serene with unique and charming creature designs. The tree Ent-like creatures were stunning and so cool in their attention to detail.  beautifully crafted.  Digital characters have come so far since Jar Jar.  In addition, Maleficent's wings are alive on the screen and feel every part of her character as her arms.  Extremely


excellent collaboration between digital design and an actress portraying the physical attributes of this character flawlessly with sincere honesty.  I also really liked all the nods to the original animated film, the thorn walls, the dragon, and the green magic flames, all done very well.

Where this movie trips up is in the script.  It comes across very much on the surface.  It rarely sinks it's teeth into some of these emotionally rich and disturbing occupancies.  The early love interest between Maleficent and Stefan seems very rushed and glossed over.  The relationship doesn't feel sincere that Maleficent's descent to betrayed revenge and evil does not feel justified.  There are many other areas that feel glossed over, but I Wish to avoid spoilers.  I will say I found the "sleeping beauty kiss" enduring and moving.      

In the end, this film does not compare with X-Men: Days of Future Past which has the complete package, but keeps me engaged and never leaves me thinking the film is too long and is a  fun enchanting ride.  That's why it currently lands second in the summer list of movies under X-Men: Days of Future Past and ahead of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  

1.  X-Men:  Days of Future Past

2.  Maleficent

3.  The Amazing Spider-Man 2

4.  Godzilla