Stars Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Jonas Armstrong, Tony Way, Kick Gurry, Charlotte Riley and Brendan Gleeson Directed by Doug Liman Have you ever sat by watching a friend play some video game, trying to figure out the movement patterns to get through some level? While some may get the whole Groundhog Day mechanism at work, it feels more like that video game where your character keeps getting shunted back to some save point and has to try various paths to keep moving forward. On the bright side, they do keep things entertaining, especially with the numerous death of Tom Cruise… or at least, his character, William Cage. It might be fair to say that this is a departure from the usual characters that Cruise has played before. The charm is there, but more as a façade hiding the coward beneath who doesn’t want to be on the front lines of a losing war. As the movie progresses that charm also fades away, but not completely, to bring out the character underneath and evolve into the hero he needs to be. He’s also ably supported by a game cast that include some cool character actors the likes of Brendan Gleeson, Kick Gurry and the great Bill Paxton, but primarily Emily Blunt as the kick-ass metal-gear warrior, Rita Vrataski. The time-travel mechanism here - and it is a time-travel gimmick at play, because he Cage keeps travelling back in time to a particular ‘start point’ - is unique. Despite being a gimmick, it is a crucial plot point to the overall scheme of things as the story progresses. It turns out, Vrataski is the only other soldier who had experienced the phenomenon before and she becomes Cage’s guiding light for much of the film. The chemistry between Cruise and Blunt works well enough to carry through those oft-repeated moments, whether it’s the repeated training (never mind the strength building, it’s apparently all among rote memorisation) or her preferred method of ‘rebooting’ events when things go wrong. It’s like a video game, remember? Director Doug Liman handles the action scenes with aplomb, showing off the deft hand developed through the likes of The Bourne Identity or Mr and Mrs Smith. Let’s throw in Jumper while we’re at it. He manages not to repeat things too often, giving fresh spins on repeated set pieces and simply drives the pace with occasional flashes of well-placed and well-developed humour. That’s thanks to a very game Cruise. The nature of the featured aliens, however, tend to create some chaotic moments in the first half. A sense of location is often lost, particularly during the battle scenes, but it might be considered a benefit to those moments, not unlike the beach landing that opened Saving Private Ryan. The effects work is also notable, from the practical suits to the CGI movements in those suits (I doubt very much the actors would be so flexible in the reportedly 85 pound suits), aliens and environments. Yet, while obvious, they don’t distract from the proceedings In all, it is a very engaging and entertaining Summer movie, not overly concerned with the mechanics of the concept. It doesn’t try to preach anything nor is our lead character out to experience some moral lesson (see Groundhog Day) in as much as he just wants everything to quit repeating. To bring up that video game analogy one last time, imagine you’re playing the game and you have to reach the end before you can stop and step away. There’s no save point for you to take a break. For Bill Cage, stepping away from the routine simply unveils a greater horror. There’s no escape unless he completes the path he’s on. In that, the movie delivers as pure solid entertainment. If only they could have a better resolution tho. That ending raises so many questions. Rating: ***1/2
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