In 2014, Edge of Tomorrow was first released in theaters. Based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s beloved manga series All You Need is Kill, the film adaptation focuses on Major William Cage (2024 Summer Olympics daredevil Tom Cruise), a public relations specialist who is thrown into the middle of a deadly war against aliens called mimics. The movie sees the protagonist stuck in a time loop as he figures out how to defeat the monstrous attackers. Along the way, he meets famed Sergeant Rita Vrataski (The Fall Guy‘s Emily Blunt) and lives, dies, and repeats the same battle-filled day over and over again.
Despite earning acclaim from critics and audiences alike, with a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.6/10 user rating on Metacritic, the film was only a modest box office hit. However, more than a decade after its initial release, the Doug Liman-directed project is fondly remembered as a modern science fiction classic. Here are three reasons why you should check out the movie on Netflix right now.
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Tom Cruise’s usual role is flipped on its head
Cruise is known for being a major action star, playing cooler-than-cool characters on the big screen, including Maverick in the Top Gun series, Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible franchise, and the titular character in the Jack Reacher franchise. Edge of Tomorrow flips and subverts what you’d expect from the usual Cruise performance, as he plays Cage, a cowardly public affairs officer whose efforts not to be placed on the battlefield blow up in his face, quite literally.
As he’s thrown in the Battle of Verdun against the Mimics, viewers watch Cage grow from a scaredy-cat with little actual fighting skills into a legitimate soldier who poses the last hope for humanity. It’s refreshing to see Cruise’s character not be the usual hero he plays. Instead, he’s forced to earn his stripes with his repeated failures on the battlefield.
It’s a great twist on a familiar premise
Time loop movies weren’t exactly a fresh idea when Edge of Tomorrow arrived in theaters in 2014. From the iconic Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day to the hilarious and violent Happy Death Day franchise to the Andy Samberg sci-fi rom-com Palm Springs, viewers have seen a lot of the repeating concept on the big screen.
However, Edge of Tomorrow brings something unique to the time loop subgenre. Its epic visuals, sharp script, and the continued growth and failures of Cruise’s Cage keep things from ever getting stale. Seeing Cage go from a bumbling PR guy to what he becomes in the film is legitimately exhilarating, as the repeating timeline offers some new insights and further unlocks the puzzle of the overall story. No other time loop movie accomplishes what Edge of Tomorrow does in terms of scale and action. It’s a total spectacle, even if it’s the same day over and over.
Emily Blunt makes a great sci-fi movie heroine
Prior to taking on the role of Rita Vrataski in Edge of Tomorrow, Emily Blunt was known more for her standout performances in The Devil Wears Prada, the romantic comedy Salmon Fishing in Yemen, and the comedy The Five-Year Engagement. However, the science fiction epic proves Blunt can play against her usual role, as Edge of Tomorrow‘s Rita is a seasoned fighter wielding a giant sword who is more arduous and deadlier than any other soldier, making her the perfect leading woman.
Blunt, who hadn’t done anything as action-packed before this role, absolutely crushes it, as she’s intimidating, commanding, deadly, and beautiful all at the same time. The film ends up being the perfect role for Blunt, and its hard to imagine anyone else playing the part.
Edge of Tomorrow is available on Netflix now.