Re: Edge of Tomorrow: fun movie but can someone please explain the end
re the ending
Saw this last night and really enjoyed it. It's definitely upper echelon B-movie fare, and if you think about it too much it doesn't neccesarily make sense. Part of me wishes they'd explored the psychological effect of being killed over and over again on him, but frankly that wouldn't have been much fun, and it is a fun film, and quite inventive re some of the deaths, and the computer game logic does make for some amusing "Next time I'll get it right"s!
Cruise is excellent, Cage really isn't that likeable at the start and I like the subversion of the usual Cruise cocky hero type. Blunt is excellent as well, a strong female character every bit Cage's equal and she's not just there to be eye candy...ok maybe in the push up scene but even then it's a grungy kind of eye candy!
Bill Paxton does almost steal the whole damn show though!
The ending is weak, the aliens underdeveloped and they almost overdo the repetitive nature early on (but only almost), but on the whole a very enjoyable film.
I don't know about that. The ambiguity actually helped make certain scenes work. You know, the long drive, the farmhouse, Whitehall, others. If the viewer knew exactly what the characters had been up to previously, they wouldn't have worked as well either as character pieces or action set-pieces.
But while we're on a wishlist, I'd have loved to see some (more? can't remember if there was a tiny snippet; I remember Cage talking about her) news footage of the Full Metal Bitch in action in Verdun in the montage at the start!
That was great; Cruise really sold it too. He bounces off the helicopter brimful of confidence and swagger; Jerry Maguire in uniform. Then suddenly, bang, his world falls apart... and you see it right there on Cruise's face, before he even says a word.
However, there's one thing I really didn't like.
I'll get to your question in a moment, Holdfast, but first my complaint.
I was very disappointed that Liman went with the safe ending. I really hoped that the film would end with both Cage and Rita sacrificing their lives to save the world and the world would never know of their sacrifice, both the act itself and the brevity of the act. Instead, we get the latter, but both magically survive by one final reset (oh, the dreaded reset!). The final round of action was heighten for me because Cage and Rita, as well as the viewer, knew the stakes were even higher now. This was their last real chance, no more resets, and yet, that whole sequence becomes moot because of the final reset.
I was so crestfallen by the final two minutes that I didn't even notice the glaring error you pointed out, Holdfast. Your explanation about Omega being omnipresent is the best I can come up with, but it's not really satisfying.
I think I'll just pretend the film ends with both Cage and Rita dying, cutting to the news feed of General Brigham proclaiming their mysterious victory. The end. *shrug*
I know it'll get criticised by some for the tacked-on ending. I can also see why some are suggesting that it's probably a studio/test-audience change and there's a different original ending on the cutting room floor. But you know, I don't mind the final reset. This isn't a movie I'd ever plan to actively rewatch (I'd probably watch it on TV if I happened upon it but I wouldn't seek it out) so within the story you still had all the tension in that final 20 minutes or so. The characters AND the audience both buy into the lack of another reset at the time, so when it eventually happens in the coda, it doesn't take away from the preceding scenes. At least it didn't for me.
It's only the very last minute, from when Cruise sees the news bulletin in Whitehall that messes it up for me for the reasons in my OP.
When he woke up in the helicopter, I was actually half-expecting another 10-15 minutes of movie. I thought he'd somehow acquired conscious control of the reset this time, due to it being Omega rather than Alpha blood, and that he'd now find a way of striking the Louvre site in force (perhaps by convincing the general or just making him order a nuke strike on Paris?) the day before the Normandy landings, thus pre-empting the whole original timeline in a much neater way. But no, we just got the news that somehow Omega was still dead, despite it being the day before he killed it. Hmm....
re the ending
I was slightly dissapointed, but not wholly surprised. Given the nature of the time loops it seemed the obvious way for them to go. I do feel kinda sorry for Cage, he's probably fought more than any soldier alive, aside from Rita, won the war yet no one will ever know...although clearly he'll be able to convince Rita and scientist guy at least!
Saw this last night and really enjoyed it. It's definitely upper echelon B-movie fare, and if you think about it too much it doesn't neccesarily make sense. Part of me wishes they'd explored the psychological effect of being killed over and over again on him, but frankly that wouldn't have been much fun, and it is a fun film, and quite inventive re some of the deaths, and the computer game logic does make for some amusing "Next time I'll get it right"s!
Cruise is excellent, Cage really isn't that likeable at the start and I like the subversion of the usual Cruise cocky hero type. Blunt is excellent as well, a strong female character every bit Cage's equal and she's not just there to be eye candy...ok maybe in the push up scene but even then it's a grungy kind of eye candy!
Bill Paxton does almost steal the whole damn show though!
The ending is weak, the aliens underdeveloped and they almost overdo the repetitive nature early on (but only almost), but on the whole a very enjoyable film.
