MOVIE REVIEW: “EDGE OF TOMORROW” (2014)

“EDGE OF TOMORROW” (2014) MOVIE REVIEW

The headline hollers : “LIVE. DIE. REPEAT”.

And it says enough to sum up the crux of this movie.

It beckons you into a time loop, where close encounters are repeatedly occurring over and over again,to drain you out, physically and emotionally.

This is a futuristic film about mankind gearing up for confrontational warfare versus a formidable alien race called mimics.

Where did I read that Tom Cruise’s latest  movie”EDGE OF TOMORROW” is destined to be this summer’s first big-budget bomb?

A case of not generating sufficient buzz in the West?

Tom Cruise has myriad(s) of cinematic followers in all parts of Asia.

His brand positioning is always of the dashing, fearless, dauntless hero.

It’s not easy to kill a strong, established product.

“EDGE OF TOMORROW” is a sci-fi that is all bold and solid on the outer crust.

Then it peaks and storms at a cracking pace as a blockbuster, headlong into stiff competitions from Godzilla and X-Men at the box office, giving all these a run for their money.

In the movie, Cruise plays the arrogant Major William Cage who is a unbendable “straight jacket”.  His cushy  job is to cajole and recruit new soldiers on national television. No, Major Cage has never been in any real life combat.

Therefore he roared with extreme displeasure when he is trooped up in an apparent suicide mission to fight the deadly aliens called Mimics.

Cage’s insubordination lands him in the infantry of a sure-lose battle. He is dead within minutes. 

Strangely he wakes up (again) with amazement, as if the day has never happened.

He remembers last that he was at the barracks the day before the battle.

He is oblivious to what else is milling around him, but before long he is thrown back onto the beach, into the battle, and he dies one more time.

 Cage soon discovers he’s not the first victim for this time loop-game.

However, with each time-loop, he harnesses the magnificent power of observation. Because this time round he’s  fully prepared that the happenings are going to manifest themselves. And the entire process is going to be repeated again, yet in another time-loop.

Finally he meets Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) and together they set out to defeat the aliens. What happens after this, you really have to see the movie for answers.

The director is Doug Liman and he has delivered a deliciously demented flick. Kudos. 

Tom Cruise’s star power shines in action as well as his confrontations with the fearsome extraterrestrial monsters.

The plot is  based on a Japanese novel called “All You Need is Kill” by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.

This smart and unsettling movie is certainly worth a watch for all its hard work.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Local distributor: Warner Bros Pictures

“JACK REACHER” Movie Review. He’s LARGER than LIFE.

“JACK REACHER” PRESS PREVIEW

Here we go again, it’s TOM CRUISE as the butt kicking badass in “JACK REACHER”.

For jolly good measure too. 

I’ve never been big on TOM CRUISE.

But he is very much in his element playing the iconic anti-hero JACK REACHER, a character created by British author LEE CHILD pow-wowing the baddies and tabling them all to justice.

“JACK REACHER” ensures you a fun ride, laced with action and dark humor.

 TOM CRUISE again displays his prowess that, whichever angle you may look at him, he commands stoic respect.

 This is a CRUISE brand and he empowers as the movie star.

As both producer and star, CRUISE has developed a potential franchise, a vanity project and a crowd pleaser.

The film opens with a horrific shooting of five innocents, throwing the heartland city into a stare of pandemonium.

The police follow the trail of clues that leads to James Barr (Joseph Sikora), a recent veteran and ham him as the shooter.

Beaten into a coma while in custody, Barr has enough time during his first interrogation to write a simple message:  “Find Jack Reacher.”

Before everyone, such as the district attorney (RICHARD JENKINS), Barr’s lawyer Helen Rodin ( ROSAMUND PIKE), and the lead investigator on the case, Detective Emerson (DAVID OVELOWO), can even discuss how to find Reacher, our hero strides nonchalantly into the police station.

 And as Reacher probes deeper into the case,  he realizes that James might not be guilty after all.

Writer/director CHRISTOPHER McQUARRIE blends action, suspense, thrills and comic relief skillfully.

As in any action film, you have to fully suspend disbelief  to fully enjoy this spy thriller.

If you are a fan of TOM CRUISE, then this film should not fail.

“MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: Ghost Protocol” MOVIE REVIEW. Blazing the DEADLY TRAIL with a formidable revamped NEW TEAM.

“MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL” PRESS PREVIEW

No apologies folks, it’s TOM CRUISE returning as Agent ETHAN HUNT for the fourth time running.

If you are an avid fan of slick guys and drooling cool action, then this is one breathtaking actioner you should never miss.

Never mind the absurd plot because TOM CRUISE is at it again, this time blazing the trail – fast, deadly and furious, hamming it all the way in this impressionable “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL” installment.

Pulsating, heart stomping and adrenaline charging, spilling from one sweaty peril to another, this

feature is thrillingly action-packed – designed to keep you on edge, especially if you are viewing it in the splendor of the latest IMAX phenomenon.

As with the other three previous MISSION IMPOSSIBLE chronicles where exotic locales are a geographical treat in each segment, this time we are peremptorily transported to the scenic wonders of MOSCOW, BUDAPEST, DUBAI and MUMBAI.

It’s a potpourri of thrills, spills, dark humor, dry wit with the action most foul.

Directed by the reputable Animation Director BRAD BIRD (The Incredibles, Ratatouille), it has something for everyone and is a pure wholesome “getaway” entertainment.

Let’s delve further …..

Of course, the magnificent ETHAN HUNT has to be in trouble to roll the story.

It starts with a jail break from a Moscow prison.  He has been falsely accused of being a terrorist by his hapless superiors, of a bombing at the Kremlin. His entire operations are shut down because of this.

His next new mission is aptly called “Ghost Protocol” which is to seize nuclear codes and devices from an opportunistic war merchant KURT HENDRICKS (MICHAEL NYQVIST) who intends to mastermind a devious plan involving a global nuclear holocaust.

A new team has been handpicked by ETHAN’s bosses and they are:

BENJI DUNN (SIMON PEGG), Agent JANE CARTER (PAULA PATTON) and BRANDT (JEREMY RENNER) but trust has to be earned along this globe trotting adventure.

“MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: Ghost Protocol” is loud, explosive and shows you that the pace seldom slows and that action is king.

There’s enough worthy dialogue to set the ball rolling, spiced with unexpected humor.

Naturally, ETHAN HUNT has to prove his mettle this time by displaying the impossible and making it possible – scaling and hanging precariously on Dubai’s tallest building, the BURJ KHALIFA.

The stunt choreography has its splendid moments, specially the scenes showcasing a car that plummets headlong from several storeys to the ground below and of Agent BRANDT taking a controlled fall down a shaft, suspending mid air within a vacuum.

The film’s headline screams “NO PLAN. NO BACK-UP. NO CHOICE.”

That being the case, it's NO SWEAT then. Right?