Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow - Dir. Doug Liman (2014)

Live. Die. Repeat.

If you ever thought Groundhog Day would be infinitely improved if it had explosions, robotic mech suits, aliens, and a massive body count, then Edge of Tomorrow is the movie for you. The latest action opus starring Tom Cruise was based on the novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, which was also adapted into a manga by Viz Media.

The Earth has been invaded by an alien race known as the Mimics. Nearly the entire continent of Europe has fallen to the relentless extraterrestrials. The United Defense Forces hope they will be able to turn the tide with new high-tech exoskeletons. Major William Cage (Cruise) is a glorified publicist for the military. His job is to sell the war and boost enlistment numbers. However, he's never been in combat and when General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson) orders him to the combat zone, Cage attempts to blackmail his way out. Brigham has him arrested, stripped of his rank, and labeled a deserter.

Sent to the frontlines in Normandy, Cage is exposed to the blood of an Alpha Mimic and gains the ability to reset time. Whenever he dies, he goes back to the morning when he awakens at the forward operating base in Heathrow. Of course, nobody will believe him with the exception of Sgt. Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), alternately nicknamed the "Angel of Verdun" and the "Full Metal Bitch. Vrataski has become the face of the military propaganda after leading the human forces to their first victory against the Mimics. As it turns out, Vrataski had temporal powers too, which were lost following a blood transfusion.

Edge of Tomorrow might be the best video game movie ever made that's not actually based on a video game. The screenplay by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (with a rewrite by Christopher McQuarrie) plays with video game conventions by allowing their protagonist to respawn and begin the level all over again. This allows Cage to train indefinitely under the tutelage of Vrataski. He attempts to survive while saving his fellow troops through trial and error, memorizing situations and enemy movements. Despite some sequences being repeated, the movie never feels repetitive. The filmmakers find unique methods to double back over specific scenes to convey new information or show it from a different perspective. They are able to keep the audience on their toes by keeping them guessing as to whether or not Cage has done this a hundred times or just once.

The budding relationship between Cage and Vrataski serves as the heart of the film, a love story that doesn't fall into the standard issue clichés. They share a bond due to circumstances only the two of them could understand, the burden of dying and watching others die countless times. Vrataski is one of the best female characters to be featured in a major blockbuster in a long while. Emily Blunt is more than up to the task to simultaneously portray fierce and vulnerable, not to mention she's drop dead gorgeous. Meanwhile, Cage fits into the two personas that Cruise has excelled at for decades. Cruise isn't ashamed to start Cage as a smarmy and cowardly individual. This is the smirking, cocksure pretty boy we've seen before in Top Gun, Rain Man, The Color of Money, and many more. With Vrataski's help, he transforms into the steely action hero from Mission: Impossible and Jack Reacher. While the supporting cast has a few colorful characters, only Bill Paxton's Master Sgt. Farell stands out. He's a good ol' boy from Kentucky with a sharp tongue and little patience for shirkers.

Doug Liman cut his teeth on low-budget comedies Swingers and Go, before emerging as an incredible action director with The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Unfortunately, production problems on those pictures along with the failure of Jumper left Liman struggling to hit a home run. He does so with Edge of Tomorrow, which he'll follow up with a big-budget version of Splinter Cell. Liman's direction is energetic and enhanced by the gritty cinematography of Oscar winner Dion Beebe. There's a clear homage to Saving Private Ryan with the chaotic invasion of Normandy and it's no coincidence the movie was released on the battle's 70^th anniversary. Aliens is briefly referenced when Farell and his J Squad are surrounded by blips that happen to be coming from underneath their position. The digital effects are realistically rendered and the Mimic designed as undulating masses of tendrils ala the squiddies from The Matrix Reloaded.

There's a surprising layer of humor to Edge of Tomorrow that adds to the overall experience. Cruise becomes a human Wile E. Coyote as the film finds interesting ways for him to die. At one point, Cage tries to roll away only to be crushed by a passing truck. When he suffers a debilitating injury, Vrataski casually puts him out of his misery with a bullet to the head.

Edge of Tomorrow is easily the best blockbuster to emerge during this summer's always crowded marketplace. There's action, drama, and comedy built around two stellar performances from Cruise and Blunt. It's a shame the movie hasn't gained any traction at the box office likely due to the general public being burnt out on Tom Cruise. Or maybe it's the generic title, which sounds like the name of a daytime soap. Edge of Tomorrow deserves to be seen by a wider audience.

Rating: **** (*****)

2 Guns

2 Guns – Dir. Baltasar Kormákur (2013)

2013 was another huge year for comic book movies with Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel doing blockbuster numbers and Thor: The Dark World closing out the year. Meanwhile, films based on non-superhero properties like R.I.P.D. and Red 2 didn't get quite as much attention. This brings us to 2 Guns, based on a little known mini-series published by BOOM! Studios. Most folks would probably be surprised to hear that it was adapted from a comic though it does feature the titanic team-up of Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg.

Bobby Trench (Washington) and Michael Stigman (Wahlberg) are a pair of crooks who decide to steal $3 million from safety deposit boxes belonging to drug lord Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos). These boxes are tucked away inside a bank vault in the tiny town of Tres Cruces. If that sounds familiar, then you’ve seen the 70's neo-noir classic Charley Varrick, which screenwriter Blake Masters borrows heavily from. In a series of twists and turns, Trench is revealed to be an undercover DEA agent while Stigman is actually working for Naval Intelligence. Neither man was aware of the other's true identity. Even worse, the bank didn't hold $3 million, but over $43 million belonging to an illegal CIA slush fund. Stigman narrowly escapes an attempt on his life by his corrupt commanding officer Quince (James Marsden), who wants the cash for himself. He'll have to get in line because Papi wants it too and so does the sadistic CIA agent Earl (Bill Paxton).

2 Guns feels like it could have come straight out of the hyperkinetic wheelhouse of the late-Tony Scott. This is a fast-paced, brainless affair that builds to a cluttered climax as four different factions (five, if you count a herd of stampeding bulls) shoot it out for a trunk load of dollars. However, Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur, who previously worked with Wahlberg on Contraband, doesn't have Scott's visual panache. Still, the action sequences are decent enough, save for a rough looking car chase.

What really sells 2 Guns is the chemistry between its leads. The interplay shared by Wahlberg and Washington harkens back to the buddy cop formula set by Lethal Weapon. Both protagonists give as good as they get as their one-liners fly faster and more frequently than their bullets. The burden of carrying the movie doesn't fall squarely on their shoulders thanks to a game supporting cast. Perennial nice guy James Marsden is cast against type as a back-stabbing naval officer while Edward James Olmos is perfectly grizzled as a cartel boss. Yet, they all pale in comparison to the scene chewing performance of Bill Paxton, who affects a thick Southern accent to portray the main antagonist. 2 Guns is so overstuffed with testosterone that there's no room for a strong female character. That's a shame because Paula Patton played a pretty kick-ass secret agent in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Instead, she's a damsel in distress who spends most of her time either tied up to a chair or gratuitously slinking around with nothing on except wafer-thin panties. Yeah, okay, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

2 Guns is such a breezy trifle that you almost forget just how surprisingly cynical it is. Just about every branch of the American government is portrayed as corrupt, incompetent, or simply uncaring. Stigman cracks a joke about purchasing his high-powered sniper rifle at K-Mart (are they still around?) and the US/Mexico border is patrolled by good ol' boys looking to dispense redneck justice to anybody with dark skin.

2 Guns may be formulaic and predictable, but the winning charm of Washington and Wahlberg make it a passable bit of popcorn entertainment.

Rating: ** (*****)

Haywire

Haywire - Dir. Steven Soderbergh (2012)

Steven Soderbergh has to be considered one of the most versatile filmmakers working today. He can effortlessly switch from slick blockbusters like Erin Brockovich and the Ocean's series to iconoclastic indie projects like Bubble and Full Frontal. Soderbergh's latest film, Haywire, is a melding of both worlds and his first foray into the action genre.

Haywire was conceived specifically for Gina Carano, who is considered by many to be THE face of female MMA. This is her first movie role and though she's not exactly an actress with great range, she is a believable badass. Carano is far more suited to the role of action heroine than others like Kate Beckinsale, Angelina Jolie, or Milla Jovovich. She's not wafer thin, but curvy, tough, and beautiful.

Carano is the awesomely named Mallory Kane, an operative for a private security firm specializing in secretive missions. She is betrayed by her boss, Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), following a job in Barcelona to rescue a Chinese journalist held hostage. Mallory is sent to Dublin under the guise of posing as arm candy for Paul (Michael Fassbender), a British freelance agent, who is actually tasked with killing her. When that fails, Mallory sets out on a quest for revenge and leaves a trail of bodies in her wake.

Haywire opens somewhere in the middle of the story with Mallory confronting a fellow agent, Aaron (Channing Tatum), in a diner. After a vicious fight, she grabs a good samaritan (Michael Angarano) and forces him to drive her away as she tells him his story. Not the most original device, but a clever and simple way to unfold the narrative.

Aside from beginning in media res, the plot is fairly straightforward and minimalistic. It's a close cousin to another Soderbergh revenge picture, The Limey, which was also penned by Haywire screenwriter Lem Dobbs. In fact, it could almost be mistaken for the type of low-budget, direct-to-video actioners that are pumped out by Seagal, Van Damme or Dolph Lundgren. What sets Haywire apart from such detritus is Steven Soderbergh and an A-list cast.

This is Gina Carano's acting debut and Soderbergh plays to her strengths. He doesn't give Carano any extended monologues, making sure her lines are short and sweet. He even tweaked her voice in post-production to make it deeper and more authoritative. Carano tends to deliver some of her dialogue in a robotic manner that actually accentuates the cold and ruthless demeanor of Mallory Kane. It's not unlike what Soderbergh did with ex-porn star Sasha Grey in The Girlfriend Experience. There, Grey's somewhat wooden performance played into her character's detached personality. Rather than placing the entire burden on Carano's shoulders, Soderbergh allows his impressive supporting cast to do most of the heavy lifting. In addition to Ewan McGregor and Michael Fassbender, the ensemble includes Antonio Banderas and Michael Douglas as shady government officials and Bill Paxton as Mallory's ex-military father.

In any event, no one came to see Carano deliver Shakespearean soliloquies. You're here to see her kick ass.

Soderbergh takes a basic approach to the action sequences and doesn't drown them with shoddy CGI, heavy metal music or cartoonish foley effects. He doesn't turn them into an incomprehensible mess by using rapid editing or manic camera movements. He keeps the camera steady and shoots in wide and medium shots. It's a joy seeing Carano bouncing off a wall and smashing somebody in the face with a hard fist. Two of the best set pieces in the film are the opening diner brawl and a car chase with Carano evading police by driving backwards through a snow covered forest. The centerpiece of Haywire is a brutal fight between Carano and Fassbender inside a hotel room. Soderbergh allows the tension to simmer to a boil as the couple calmly walks to their door and Carano slowly slips out of her heels. You know shit is about to explode, but you just don't know when.

Forgoing the typical rock soundtrack, Soderbergh opts for a sleek and jazzy score by David Holmes, who was also the composer on the Ocean's series. The music certainly has that same old school feel and combined with the subdued color palette gives Haywire a 70's throwback style.

Working with less money and less resources, Steven Soderbergh manages to blow away the big budget schlock by Michael Bay and generic directors like Len Wiseman or Brett Ratner. Haywire is arthouse action comparable to Nicholas Winding Refn's Drive, which was my pick for best film of 2011. Hopefully, Haywire won't be forgotten when it's time to write up the Best of 2012 lists. It's a unique film that marks the beginning of a promising new career for Gina Carano.

Rating: **** (*****)