Escape to the Movies: Edge of Tomorrow - Tom Cruise Is Cool Again

[AvsJoe]

Alright. Sounds good. I'm in.

At first, I thought this was going to be Source Code with aliens. Then a few trailers got me interested and a review from a week ago gave an enthusiastic review with enough info to whet my appetite without giving too much away. This review seals the deal; I'll see the movie in a couple of weeks once the audiences die down and probably enjoy it. Probably not "watch, love, repeat" but "watch, enjoy, remember".

 

[InvisibleMan]

Wait, didn't Bill Murray do this already in Groundhog Day twenty years ago??

I guess this is a good plot formula that should be used a lot more...

 

[el_emmens]

Wait, didn't Bill Murray do this already in Groundhog Day twenty years ago??

I guess this is a good plot formula that should be used a lot more...

When I first saw the trailers I was thinking "So, Groundhog Day+ [insert really well done non period piece war movie here]"

Glad the formula works

 

[teamcharlie]

Edge of Tomorrow is basically what Starship Troopers would have been if they'd actually tried to make it good (as opposed to a satire, which was still fun but definitely on the 'bad' end of the spectrum) with a Groundhog Day twist.

And yeah, it's awesome. But if anything bothered me about the movie, it's that the beginning is a little slow. I realize it's intentional to an extent, but it took me until about halfway through the first battle to really be sold on the movie.

As for the third act, I'm basically down by this point. For politeness' sake (although I definitely want to discuss it):

Spoiler

I'm glad they went with a happy ending this time. Everything in the movie was just so damn bleak, and they had time travel magic, so it doesn't feel nearly as stupid as it might have. I'm also glad that Blunt and Cruise kissed. Yeah yeah, time got reset and forced love interest, but come on. I am absolutely done with the 'it's 2014! They should just be friends!' bullshit. Yes, they can. Of course they can. But they don't have to every time in every movie and video game from now on. Sometimes two attractive people can get together and it's fine.

 

[Nghtgnt]

OT: Is there a reason for Emily Blunt using a JRPG sword to fight aliens? I guess it lets you make the most of the suit's strength, but those big rocket tubes look a lot safer.

Because it's based on a Japanese book, and if I remember correctly they actually describe her weapon as being overly large. Additionally,

Spoiler

The rocket tube-like thingies weren't very effective against the aliens, with the sword being much more useful.

Speaking of which, despite the generally good reviews, I still find myself hesitant to see this movie because I was less then impressed by the book it is based on.

 

[Darth_Payn]

Wait, didn't Bill Murray do this already in Groundhog Day twenty years ago??

I guess this is a good plot formula that should be used a lot more...

When I first saw the trailers I was thinking "So, Groundhog Day+ [insert really well done non period piece war movie here]"

Glad the formula works

I was thinking of Source Code with mech suits. Good to know this one's good. I liked Bob's video game analogy with Infinite Lives and Continues, which I think was what they were going for. I also did not think of Tom Cruise in terms of "from a different era of movies".

 

[Vivi22]

Wait, didn't Bill Murray do this already in Groundhog Day twenty years ago??

I guess this is a good plot formula that should be used a lot more...

No, it should not be used a lot more. That would overdo it. I've seen the formula of repeating the same events over and over done well maybe two or three times aside from groundhog day. Oddly I can only think of those few times as well at the moment. But it's not a formula that has the sort of mileage to support more than those few instances where it's done well over the span of a few decades. It's the sort of thing that needs that time to breath in between uses or it'll just be overdone.

 

[Tono Makt]

But could anyone tell me what the question he answered next to the Fault In Our Stars poster was? "It's a foregone conclusion, that's why." That's why what?

Yeah, what does that mean exactly, the "foregone conclusion" bit?

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
-Cassius
Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)

The title of the book/movie is a Shakespeare quote about the inevitablity that all men must bow to fate. The book/movie is about some kids who have cancer. You can see where this is going.

While this is true... isn't it true about about a large majority of movies? Sure the two main characters in TFIOS are going to die. And Godzilla is going to "save" the city. And Tom Cruise is going to beat the Aliens. And the X-Men are going to change history to save the future. And Captain America is going to defeat Hydra (for this movie, anyway). And Thor is going to beat Loki. (For this movie, anyway) And the Avengers are going to defeat Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron. And Jupiter is going to become the Queen of Earth/Owner of Earth/Something Powerful Enough To Keep Earth From Being Strip Mined By Obvious Bad-Guy CEO Metaphor in Jupiter Ascending. And... so on and so on. Most movies have that going for them. That's something most of us enjoy about movies - we know what the destination is and we're there to enjoy the journey.

So for Bob to put up "It's a foregone conclusion" for TFIOS, with no context, is rather strange. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be dismissive and insulting (The "This Kind Of Movie Sucks And I'm So Glad I Can Ignore It Because I Couldn't Ignore Twilight" sort of dismissal) or if it's a simple statement (The "There is no Venn diagram that puts Escapist patrons with TFIOS fans. If we were to put them on a different type of graph, they would be these three dots waaaaaay off to the side. The Outliers, as they say in Statistics.") or if there's something else going on.

Really, I'm not even sure why he would bother putting it up at all. Have people been asking him to review it on Twitter? Have Nerdfighters made this a "thing" with Bob to the point where he needs to actually reply to them in some way? What's the backstory to it? Why did he choose to do this than to make a reference to the new Transformers Metal-Band toys (which look at once to be hilariously idiotic and so dumb they're awesome)?

The statement just sticks out like smurfs in a sore thumb.

 

[Ishigami]

Uhmmm isn't this basically Groundhog Day?

 

[ecoho]

But could anyone tell me what the question he answered next to the Fault In Our Stars poster was? "It's a foregone conclusion, that's why." That's why what?

Yeah, what does that mean exactly, the "foregone conclusion" bit?

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
-Cassius
Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)

The title of the book/movie is a Shakespeare quote about the inevitablity that all men must bow to fate. The book/movie is about some kids who have cancer. You can see where this is going.

OT: Is there a reason for Emily Blunt using a JRPG sword to fight aliens? I guess it lets you make the most of the suit's strength, but those big rocket tubes look a lot safer.

the same reason you use a sword and not the gun in a video game, you never run out of ammo.

OT: I may just have to see this movie, but ill wait till after the masses have ran to it

 

[Keith Fraser]

I thought this sounded good when I read about the premise and saw the trailers, and it sounds like I was right.

One thing that amused me about the premise was that the aliens take over Europe before anywhere else, and from the clips here it looks like the US stages a counter-invasion from the UK. I wonder what they could be referencing?

(How long before someone does a YouTube mashup of the American military flying over the White Cliffs of Dover with "America, F*** Yeah!"?)

 

[RedDeadFred]

Not gonna lie, I was fully expecting this to be awful but it actually sounds pretty interesting. I guess I'll check it out. The main thing that had concerned me about the movie was Tom Cruise but you have alleviated that concern Bob.

Uhmmm isn't this basically Groundhog Day?

Yes, I too enjoyed the scene in Groundhog Day where Bill Burray battled a bunch of alien monsters in a robotic suit.

 

[Count_A'ight]

Just got back from seeing it. I like it a lot! Please let this movie do well.

The mimics look basically like Protoss/Zerg hybrids just more Protossy than Zerg. The Heavy jacket soldiers look like marines. Rita is badass like Ghost Kerrigan. Cage is a reluctant hero like Jim Raynor. Can I have a live action Starcraft movie please?

 

[Flatfrog]

Tom Cruise hasn't been popular since the 'couch' incident? (looks at the box office for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - $700 million in 2011) yeah he's still popular.

As Bob said, 'popular' and 'box-office draw' aren't quite the same thing. People go to watch Cruise in movies, but they still think he's a dick.

Although he was great in Tropic Thunder.

I since edited my post with (Just looked through Wikipedia, of the 16 films Cruise has done since 2000 (excluding edge of tomorrow) only 2 weren't profitable. That's better than many popular actors can say.)

Tom Cruise is mostly the leading man in his films why would people who dislike him go to see films were he is the lead?

Well, it's possible to dislike someone while still thinking they're good actors - not only possible but relatively common, since even the best actors are often egotistical twats. I know from direct experience that Michael Sheen is pretty unpleasant to work with and, well, let's just say not entirely trustworthy. That doesn't mean I wouldn't watch one of his movies, I recognise that he's a great actor. Conversely, Rupert Grint appears to be perfectly pleasant but he can't act for shit, and if he was starring in a movie I wouldn't bother watching it.

Yes, when actors do something particularly heinous (Mel Gibson) it can affect their box office. But Tom Cruise isn't in that category. He's just a dick. And I don't go to a movie to see Tom Cruise, I go to see the character he's playing.

 

[humanizer]

my main concern with this movie is that I don't see how Tom Cruise can play a young Japanese man very well.

 

[hentropy]

I was wondering about TFIOS, on one hand it seemed like a pretty standard cancer-girl story, on the other hand it seemed a bit fresh at least in the sense that it wasn't one hundred percent tear jerking romantic stuff. Reading some of the reviews however it seemed like Juno but instead of snarky "witticisms" about pregnancy it was snarky teenage "witticism" about cancer.

 

[Leonardo Huizar]

I just realized during the review that if anyone actually had this 'reset-day' power theyre basically going to be screwed when they have to die of old age, as they would respawn the day they are supposed to die for all eternity.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

my main concern with this movie is that I don't see how Tom Cruise can play a young Japanese man very well.

I've seen the movie and he does a good job. Tom Cruise is an great choice for these kinds of roles, because he does have acting chops and he gives it his all performing his own stunts. It doesn't matter if he's the right age or race i he's the right man for the job.

They did put in a nod to the source material. Cruise's name in the movie is Cage. Killing Cage is the nickname the main character gets at the end of the light novel.

 

[Yeager942]

I actually wanted Moviebob to review TFIOS. I'm curious whether is a good movie or not. "Forgone conclusion" is a bit a vague. Is Bob assuming it's bad or good? I'm interested on what comments he has on the "nerdfighter" phenomenon.

 

[RJ 17]

So it's Groundhog Day with aliens and an actor I can't stand? I'll pass.