Film Review: Edge of Tomorrow

What if, in an almost video-game-like fashion, a soldier could respawn after death over and over again and relive the same day? Surely, he would learn and alter the events over and over, and continuously hone his skills until victory is achieved.  Based on the Japanese novel All You Need is Kill, this film brings this unique premise to life on the big screen.

The film wastes little time in the set-up, before the big battles commence that pit armored men against crazy tentacled aliens.  It is a pretty hectic and hard-hitting struggle as is.  You'd think these scenes would get repetitive if the main character keeps having to relive this, but the film keeps the backtracking short, so that it always explores new directions in the narrative.  As a result, the action remains frequent, but is always varied.  All the different tangents lead to a suspenseful and satisfying finale.

Given the film's premise, it is an inherently interesting idea.  It probably could have come off as generic, cliched, or repetitive in lesser hands.  Fortunately, the story is well-built and well-told in this film, not only because it keeps things brisk and varied, but also because it has endearing characters and a strong attention to detail.  There are a few instances where I questioned the plausibility of certain things, but it doesn't stop the plot from holding up.

The film features good and straightforward photography.  Editing is pretty good, especially in the way it can string together multiple recurrences of a scene (to show progress, or sometimes for humor when the character dies a stupid death).  Acting is not bad; Tom Cruise isn't always endearing to watch, but he does have moments that help us sympathize with his situation.  Emily Blunt delivers a solid performance.  Everybody else is alright.  Writing is not bad.  This production has pretty good and gritty-looking sets, props, costumes, and special effects.  Locales are surprisingly interesting.  Music is alright (the end credits song seems out of place though).

This is kinda like what you get if you cross The Source Code with the Resistance:  Fall of Man video game.  It's a pretty solid piece of military sci-fi that's certainly better than average, offering its fair share of intriguing storytelling and rip-roaring action.

Recommended!

4/5 (Entertainment:  Good | Story:  Good | Film:  Good)

Film Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Wolverine still stands as one of the most prolific, most popular, and most badass superheroes of Marvel lore. The man is literally immortal: he heals instantly, even from mortal wounds, and thanks to that he was grafted with an invincible metal skeleton, complete with retracting adamantium claws. Wolverine kicked plenty of butt in the three main X-Men films, but a stand-alone Wolverine film has always been in the cards, to give fans another chance to see this awesome character in action. So, they made X-Men Origins: Wolverine, in what would be the first in a line of stand-alone prequel movies for each X-Men character.

In hindsight, this proved to be a futile move; despite the film's commercial success, it is easily one of the worst films of the series, and plans to make more Origins films fell through. The film is one hot mess: a haphazard blend of rip-roaring action and plot contrivances.

The good news is that the film is still very tight, highly entertaining, and it does have some great moments. It is really cool to watch Wolverine rampaging through whole hoards of bad guys, taking out hum-vees and helicopters on a motorbike, and fighting mutants around a nuclear reactor plant. The film moves fast and is never skimpy on the action or style.

The story involved in inherently compelling, thanks entirely to the allure of the title character. It is a tragic tale of love, betrayal, and vengeance that helps shape Wolverine into the berserker we all know and love. The plot covers some of the same ground we've seen before in the original X-Men films, but this time you get to see the full background on how Wolverine got suckered into Colonel Stryker's plans. There are a few major twists, which will seem contrived at first glance, but do hold up on repeat viewings. The plot suffers the most with a number of scenes that don't really contribute; many of the action scenes are frivolous, and scenes involving a young Cyclops seem to the thrown in just for the hell of it.

A lot of the film's biggest issues rests with the editing, which is extremely choppy and screwy. A lot of shots are cheaply-cut to cover up deficiencies in the action. Worst yet, most scenes do not transition well from one to another, causing characters to appear at seemingly random places (such as Gambit suddenly appearing on a rooftop, or Victor appearing at the final fight out of nowhere). It is clear that the conflicts between the studio and the director have contributed to a film that's at conflict with itself, unable to find a balance between the heartfelt drama and the hardcore action.

On the plus side, photography is mostly-solid. Performances are a bit of a mixed bag: Hugh Jackman continues to excel at playing his iconic character, and Liev Schreiber is superb as Victor Creed. I enjoyed Danny Huston's and Lynn Collins' performances. Most of the other actors playing the side characters are pretty weak. The writing is pretty weak. This production uses okay sets, props, and costumes. Special effects vary from good to terrible. Music seems uninspired as well.

Wolverine's stand-alone film is not an inherently bad story; in fact, its potential is more effectively conveyed in the film's corresponding video game. Somewhere along the line it got mucked-up, and I blame it mostly on too much post-production tinkering. I still value the film as a guilty pleasure, and it does make for a satisfying stand-alone action flick. In an X-Men marathon, however, it doesn't fit as smoothly with the other films (especially since events in X-Men: First Class contradict this one). Diehard fans will probably want to check this out once, but for casual audiences, you can do better.

3.5/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Average | Film: Marginal)