Tom Cruised his way to top gun: My take on Edge of Tomorrow [Can he do it again?]

If you were as happily surprised as I was to find Edge of Tomorrow filled with hilarity and crackling chemistry between Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, you’ll likely feel more jazzed than skeptical that a sequel is in the works. The movie was an international hit, garnered big bucks—almost $400 mill in total—so you can’t blame the movie makers for wanting to give it a try. The writers have been hired: Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse. And Christopher McQuarrie—who cowrote the original—is attached to direct. 
So? What do you think?

Here’s my take on the first film:

I left the house yesterday fully intending to combine a west side appointment with seeing The Fault in Our Stars at the Landmark. But I took a detour to see the Jacaranda trees  winding down on a nearby avenue and then I got distracted by a striking blue buffet at Urban Home. By the time I got to the theatre it was 11:20 and The Fault in Our Stars started at 11:00am. Drat! I still had a couple of hours to kill so, recalling my friend Laura liked it, I bought a ticket to the 11:30  showing of Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.

I love going to the movies by myself at midday; the theatre is always nearly empty and I can relax and enjoy the film without worrying whether the person I'm with is enjoying it too. I was a little surprised to see that the audience for Edge of Tomorrow, which is being trounced by The Fault in Our Stars, was a little larger than the usual handful of folks who turn up for the bargain matinee; it ended up being me, a couple of younger women, not together, a handful of t-shirt wearing 30-something guys and some older men, who like me were probably worried they wouldn't make it through the 113 minute running time  - over two hours with previews - without a bathroom break. We all had a blast.

I headed to the movies looking forward to a good cry while watching The Fault in Our Stars but I ended up having a good laugh instead. A really good laugh. Cruise is in top gun form, back to his old adorable charismatic self as Major Cage, a non-com type forced to join a unit headed to the beaches of France to fight an alien invasion. Like D-Day, it's a massacre. Cage is completely out of his depth, Cruise has him clunking comically around in a weighty armored suit, desperate to escape. Instead Cage gets zapped by an alien but rather than die, he wakes up on the deck of the aircraft carrier at the start of the day. In a hilariously effective Groundhog Day conceit, Cage relives the same pre-battle day over and over again, getting smarter, learning a little more about defeating the alien invasion  each time. He joins forces with alien fighter par excellence, Full-Metal Bitch Rita (Emily Blunt), trying to get it right and save the world by the time the movie ends.  Hence the tag line: Live. Die. Repeat.

They were fantastic together. Cruise looked amazing, nicely aged - if he's bothering with Botox he's doing it sparingly. He was manly with a sweet sexy sunniness I haven't seen in awhile. For me he was the old Top Gun Tommy, charming, charismatic and a true movie star. His comic timing was exquisite, he and Blunt and an excellent stunt team both pulled off some incredibly physical feats, the action was non-stop and the writing was fresh and funny. The script has to be one of the best Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher, Jack the Giant Slayer, The Tourist) has written. Directed by Doug Liman, known for the Bourne movies, Edge of Tomorrow is based on the book All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. 

On my Podcast: Meeting Tom Cruise before he was TOM CRUISE

I don't do the star rating thing but if I had to, I'd give Edge of Tomorrow 4 Tom Cruise Couch Jumps. 

Here's the trailer. Enjoy.

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