In 2014, I was fortunate enough to be able to experience a number of impressive and entertaining films at the cinema. In this post, I’ll recount my experience of revisiting one of them, while welcoming another film inspired by the enjoyment of a separate film.
Live Die Repeat. The Edge of Tomorrow. Whatever you like to call it, this is a film that I could highly recommend. I’m not immediately drawn to any films starring Tom Cruise but there was enough in the trailers I’d seen to warrant choosing it over several other options one Friday or Saturday evening.
I’d expected some action and perhaps a lot of people dying but what I also discovered was a film I found highly captivating throughout. There was barely a dull moment, in spite of the fact you’re effectively witnessing the same day on loop, each time the main character re-awakens.
Think Groundhog Day but with less Bill Murray and more Emily Blunt – which certainly isn’t a bad thing, from my point of view! While the story takes place in the midst of an alien invasion on Earth, there’s still time for the writers to sprinkle the occasional scene with moments of humor (of course, when someone is destined to repeat the same day over and over, there’s always going to be time). Along with Blunt, a few lesser-known British faces make a series of brief but regular appearances. We’re talking about people who’ve appeared on the nation’s best-loved soaps, here. Standing along size ‘Top Gun‘ himself and Bill Paxton.
I was quite disappointed to see the design of the aliens (of the more-unrealistic variety, if you can entertain the possibility there may be life on other distant plants for a moment…). But then, this was best on a Japanese novel and they were right to stay true to the author’s intentions.
Edge of Tomorrow I can happily relive over and over. One day, I’ll add the DVD to my collection.
It was Jake Gyllenhaall’s performance in the stalkerish Nightcrawler last year that eventually lead me to an interest in Enemy, after reviewing his recent CV.
There’s a lot that I would like to tell you about this film but I believe the trailer gives you enough to go on initially… Gyllenhaal’s character soon discovers he has a doppelgänger and sets out to confront him, in the hope of understanding who, what, why and how this impossibility is even reality. Beyond that, I’m reluctant to reveal anything else for fear of ruining this film.
Some people applaud this film while reviews suggest that others hate and did not get it. A controversial one, alright. Whether or not you ‘get it‘ on your first viewing, it demands a second go, simply because of the curious links and ties you will have noticed throughout.
I remember falling a sleep within the final quarter of this film, awakening moments before the end without a clue as to what this was supposed to mean. Skipping back through the at 8x the original playback speed, I was desperate to see what I had missed…
It’s a film that I probably won’t buy on DVD but I’ll certainly watch it when it appears on TV at some point.
Thanks for reading another pairing of my reviews.
