To say we're excited about Edge Of Tomorrow is somewhat of an understatement.
The upcoming sci-fi actioner, based on Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill, which sees mankind battling invading aliens and Tom Cruise's soldier forced to endure the same battle over and over when he's sent in a time-loop, should be one of the greatest (if not most bizarre) blockbusters of recent memory.
So after witnessing a 25 minute exclusive preview of the film (and trust us, it looks spectacular), followed by a Q&A with director Doug Liman, we've compiled a list of seven key things to expect.
Though, unless you have your own time loop, we warn you: spoilers lay ahead.
Edge of Tomorrow hits cinemas 30 May
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1. Cruise's character is a coward
“He's a total coward in the movie,” reveals director Doug Liman of Tom Cruise’s Bill Cage, a former ad man who lost his job so took a job doing PR for the US Military, and, where we pick up with him, finds himself handcuffed and wakened from his slumber at a makeshift army base at Heathrow Airport (double decker red buses speckeled in the background to let us know that this isn't a future too far away). Once awake he's told by Bill Paxton’s gruff commander that he’s been accused of deserting, and though adamant that he’s never even fired a gun, Cruise’s reluctant soldier is soon placed in an exo-skeleton and shipped off for a warplane headed for France.
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2. Mankind is on the brink of obliteration
As the marines cross the channel, we’re informed that this is the eve of earth’s last stand, with both Germany and France the latest countries to be “lost” to extra-terrestrial forces. We see the squadron's ship hit by gun fire, sending it plummeting down to the ground for an early arrival on the battlefield. In a thrilling set-piece, Cruise is just one who finds suspended by wires and whizzing down to the shoreline on ejection.
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3. There may be a main alien baddie
Playing out like Starship Troopers meets Saving Private Ryan, the battle scenes are as breathless as they are stunning. No more so than when you first lay eyes on the aliens: tentacled, metallic, electrified-looking creatures which lethally whisk their limbs around at speed to swat down swathes of humans at a time, and can even come up from underground. They’re not all of the same form, either - the alien that first kills Cruise, thus giving him the ability to come back and relive the last few hours in a time loop, looks different to the others, with more facial features; while later on we see Cruise tell someone he has to “Kill the Omega”, hinting that there may be a main space villain.
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4. Blunt's character used to possess the same ability
Much like the ‘Full Metal Bitch’ from the original novel, Emily Blunt’s super soldier Rita Vrataski (also given the same nickname) is as bad-ass as they come. In the first few action scenes we witness, she’s taking the space invaders apart with a high-tech baton of sorts when her ammo is out. Witnessing Cage’s gift of future knowledge on the battlefield she urges him to find her, and so begins her training of what could be mankind’s greatest weapon. It's here that she informs Cage that she once shared the same ability to time-loop, only to lose it.
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5. The aliens aren't the only ones to kill Cruise
Not one for sentiment, Vrataski aims a gun at Cruise’s head and fires it during one scene where he puts his back out after being stuck out by one of the machines designed to replicate the aliens in a high-tech training centre. We’re also led to believe this isn’t the only time she kills him, as she humorously threatens to put a bullet in his head while hiding in a derelict farmhouse when the pair escape the French battlefield.
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6. Expect a lot of humour
The script was loaded with a great deal more jokes than we were expecting, with Cage’s loveable douche striking up a terrific chemistry with Vrataski’s surly female soldier. One scene sees him asking how he could try and share his special ability with her (read: asking for sex), to which he’s promptly given his marching orders.
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7. Don't expect a happy ending
SPOILER ALERT: Blunt’s character may die at the end of the film, teased Liman, before adding that he picked this project for the very fact it wasn’t a formulaic movie. Whatever does happen, however, in the farmhouse scene, Cage informs Blunt's character that he’s seen her future and she'll die if she stubbornly leaves in a helicopter with him. Either way, Liman also claimed she won’t remember who Tom Cruise’s character is by the end of proceedings. Groundhog Day this isn’t.
(Images: All Star)
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