Edge Of Tomorrow

Doug Liman’s time-loop actioner steals shamelessly (Aliens, Saving Private Ryan, Groundhog Day) but such eclectic elements are putty for this storyteller. Liman’s career has swerved from comedy (Swingers) to action (The Bourne Identity) via the play/reverse structure of Go. EOT ties these choices together, enlivening reportage-style combat with gallows wit, solid character development for Cruise’s initially unsympathetic hero, and endlessly creative ways of (re)telling the tale.

The influence of first-person shooters looms largest over the film’s structure. One minute, Cruise is wearily sent back to the start after yet another literal narrative dead-end (“on your feet, maggot!”). The next, Liman jumps ahead to reveal we’ve been watching the fictional equivalent of a gamer’s YouTube walkthrough. While there’s nothing that Groundhog Day didn’t do first, aptly enough, Liman’s witty, insightful exploration of narrative tension exposes the laziness blighting many blockbusters.

Only the height, motored by plot expediency and convention, feels stuck on default setting. In anticipation of then, Liman’s remix proves that the virtues of the ancient-school blockbuster are hard to kill. A behind-the-scenes Blu-ray doc sees Liman having tennis lessons in hopes of raising his stamina to Tom levels.