HeyUGuys were fortunate enough to be in attendance at a special preview screening of Doug Liman’s forthcoming sci-fi Edge of Tomorrow, as we witnessed close to twenty minutes of footage. On first impressions, it’s safe to say we’re mightily impressed with the Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt starring picture, and while the preview came to an abrupt end, our intrige in the project certainly didn’t, as a Q&A with Liman himself took place.
Cruise plays Bill Cage, a public relations worker suddenly thrust into the middle of an epic war between mankind and extraterrestrial beings, where he meets the courageous Rita Vrataski (Blunt). He soon discovers that he has a unique power whereby he can replay one particular day over and over again, caught up in a time loop that allows him the chance to become more skilled on the battlefield, and more wise to what may occur just around the corner.
In a similar vein to Groundhog Day or Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow is a fun, hypothetical scenario that seems to have brought to the big screen masterfully, while the effects and battle sequences are exciting and immerse the audience triumphantly into this world. There’s also a wit prevalent which accompanies the piece well, which when combined with such a compelling narrative, entices us to watch more as we anticipate the finished product.
You get a sense for where the tone of this film comes from when Liman begun answering our questions, as his sharp humour and brash honesty made for an enjoyable Q&A. The director, whose previous credits includes the likes of Swingers and Jumper, certainly seems to be enjoying his move into mainstream, Hollywood blockbusters following from The Bourne Identity, though he admits that finding the right project isn’t always easy.
“You tend to see a lot of either very big movies that you feel like you’ve seen before, because you have, or you see eclectic and original movies that are much smaller. Occasionally a project comes along that has the scope of Edge of Tomorrow, but at the same time is 100% original,” he said. “Everyone wants me to change it up, there was no pressure from Warner Bros. to make this look like a standard studio film, they really wanted to do something fresh.”
Liman also has countless kind words to say of his lead actor Cruise, who had himself provided us with a recorded message to introduce the footage. “He is a true movie star,” Liman continued. “You go on that journey with him. Whatever he’s doing, you’re in his shoes, you care about him. He’s so ridiculously charming, not just on screen but in real life. People in the film business have to say nice things about whoever you work with, but honestly you’ll never find somebody who worked with Tom and doesn’t rave about him. He was just extraordinary. The level of excellence he brings and expects everybody else to bring was inspiring.
Liman also admits that for Cruise to surprise the audience and show us something new is not always an easy task, but it’s something he confidently feels has been achieved in this production. “It’s not like working with Brad Pitt, who may have made a lot of movies but a lot of them you haven’t seen, it’s unusual for him to make big commercial movies, he chooses artsier things. Whereas Tom, the world has seen every single movie he’s ever done, so it’s great to have the opportunity to come up a character he hasn’t played before, and a Tom Cruise you haven’t seen before. You know, he’s a total coward in this movie, all the way through. He squeals in this movie out of fear, and he does an amazing sequel. Other movie stars, in my experience, would be more hesitant in being that vulnerable.”
It seems Liman could be on to a winner with this one, and he verified that by claiming that Edge of Tomorrow really is a film that anybody can enjoy, “We have something for everybody, because if you love Tom Cruise, this is him giving a genius performance. If you hate Tom Cruise, he dies like 200 times in the movie.”
Well, we’re sold.
