It's been a few years since this film, but rewatching it now reminded me of how good it actually is and how much I genuinely love it. It's not gritty, or dark, or filled with brooding characters, or the typical atmosphere of many modern sci fi and action films. It's just a lot of fun. The film's greatest asset - aside from two very good performances and chemistry between its leads - is that it constantly keeps a sense of humor about itself. It's funny, and thrilling, and moving, all together.
The concept works so well that it's a wonder we haven't really seen it before, although we have, kind of, in movies like Looper, Source Code, Groundhog Day, and a few others. But the script is fresh. I've read the manga, and I eventually read two early drafts of this screenplay, and it's interesting to me how different they all feel from one another and this final product, and that it evolved so thoroughly into something that feels so tightly written.
The story is complicated, and yet when watching the movie the plot seems effortless. It's about an insubordinate, cowardly officer named Cage, who is thrown onto the front lines of a war against an invading alien species known as the 'mimics', only to find himself getting killed immediately. Instead of dying outright, he finds himself waking up at a day earlier, unharmed, and about to go back into the battle that killed him. This happens over and over again, hence the tag line of the film, and eventual re-brand into 'live, die, repeat'. He soon discovers that a fellow soldier - the venerated and feared Rita Vrtastky has been stuck in that same loop before, and they begin to conspire a way to harness this time-warp glitch in order to outsmart the seemingly unbeatable mimics.
The movie works well for a few reasons. The first is that Tom Cruise plays against type here, and seeing him as a coward is fun, and he knows it. He's great here. We are reminded that Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise, one of the biggest names in the world, but he is totally comfortable messing around with his persona, and crucially, he is a gifted actor. He makes it all work. His schtick is funny, but not flippant. He plays into the emotional resonance of the story, as the fates of these two characters become intertwined in a way that is poignant. Emily Blunt is just as great. The most interesting part of the film, and what makes it better average is that it reaches for something moving; about what it might be like to fall in love and have to lose that person day in day out - and have them lose the memory too. It doesn't resort to cheap sentiment or unnecessary love scenes. The chemistry is there, and we just start to root for these characters, and the burgeoning-then-blank slate romance without them as much as giving the other a peck on the cheek.
Overall, it's one of my favorite 'big' pictures of recent years, along with Fury Road - it's a template for how these large scale action things can be really great if all the pieces are in order, if it's tightly written, and you actually feel something too, instead of just being wowed by tremendous special effects.
The concept works so well that it's a wonder we haven't really seen it before, although we have, kind of, in movies like Looper, Source Code, Groundhog Day, and a few others. But the script is fresh. I've read the manga, and I eventually read two early drafts of this screenplay, and it's interesting to me how different they all feel from one another and this final product, and that it evolved so thoroughly into something that feels so tightly written.
The story is complicated, and yet when watching the movie the plot seems effortless. It's about an insubordinate, cowardly officer named Cage, who is thrown onto the front lines of a war against an invading alien species known as the 'mimics', only to find himself getting killed immediately. Instead of dying outright, he finds himself waking up at a day earlier, unharmed, and about to go back into the battle that killed him. This happens over and over again, hence the tag line of the film, and eventual re-brand into 'live, die, repeat'. He soon discovers that a fellow soldier - the venerated and feared Rita Vrtastky has been stuck in that same loop before, and they begin to conspire a way to harness this time-warp glitch in order to outsmart the seemingly unbeatable mimics.
The movie works well for a few reasons. The first is that Tom Cruise plays against type here, and seeing him as a coward is fun, and he knows it. He's great here. We are reminded that Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise, one of the biggest names in the world, but he is totally comfortable messing around with his persona, and crucially, he is a gifted actor. He makes it all work. His schtick is funny, but not flippant. He plays into the emotional resonance of the story, as the fates of these two characters become intertwined in a way that is poignant. Emily Blunt is just as great. The most interesting part of the film, and what makes it better average is that it reaches for something moving; about what it might be like to fall in love and have to lose that person day in day out - and have them lose the memory too. It doesn't resort to cheap sentiment or unnecessary love scenes. The chemistry is there, and we just start to root for these characters, and the burgeoning-then-blank slate romance without them as much as giving the other a peck on the cheek.
Overall, it's one of my favorite 'big' pictures of recent years, along with Fury Road - it's a template for how these large scale action things can be really great if all the pieces are in order, if it's tightly written, and you actually feel something too, instead of just being wowed by tremendous special effects.