Edge of Tomorrow 2014

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: Among countless sequels and remakes, the high-concept Edge of Tomorrow is the right kind of a rerun. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: Ultimately, this is a two-hour video game. But the filmmakers play it well. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A Tom Cruise action flick with a strong female heroine and a sense of humor? "Edge of Tomorrow'' has both of those, plus a "Groundhog Day''-style gimmick that pays big dividends. Over and over. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: It's a rousing spectacle, interspersed with touching moments of really hard trying. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: The whole thing should go down quite nicely with popcorn. It won't change the course of Cruise's career, but at least it mixes up the formula. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Only toward the climax, when the live/die/repeat cycle is abandoned, does Edge of Tomorrow go logy. But it's two-thirds of a sensational ride -- one you can ride over and over without buying additional tickets. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Tom Cruise stars in this cleverly crafted and propulsively executed sci-fi thriller about a soldier forced to relive the same day over and over again. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: An entertaining, effects-driven black comedy, with shades of Starship Troopers in its depiction of warfare as a futuristic turkey shoot, the movie is distinguished more by how fluidly it handles its high-concept premise than where it takes it. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: "Edge of Tomorrow" repeats itself without being repetitive, takes itself seriously while providing some laughs and offers plenty of action without short-changing us on the intelligence front. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The fact is that this is a pretty good summer-kablooie movie, and Cruise is better than pretty good in it. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Edge of Tomorrow is a decent time waster, but if you're the sort of person who watches a movie every day, you should probably look for something better. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: I'm not sure "Edge of Tomorrow" holds much repeat viewing potential among teenage movie consumers, since the movie's a self-repeating entity to begin with. But once is fun. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Cruise is better than he's been in a while because he damps down his usual all-intensity-all-the-time MO. He's best here when his character seems the most scared. Read more

Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Morning News: The tag line alone - "Live. Die. Repeat." - guarantees $30 million at least on opening day. It will deserve every penny. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Edge of Tomorrow is not as inventive as Rian Johnson's time-bending noir, Looper. Nor is it as surprisingly spiritual as Groundhog Day. But it whirls with energy. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Is this great art? Of course not. But it's a kick. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: To paraphrase an old dictum: Directors who don't learn from history - like their hapless heroes in sci-fi movies - are doomed to repeat it. But, in [Doug] Liman's case, that has turned out to be not such a bad thing. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Despite its terribly unimaginative title, Edge of Tomorrow is a surprisingly imaginative summer action movie. Read more

James Rocchi, Film.com: It'd be easy to dismiss Edge of Tomorrow as just another blunt-force summer movie, but it's sharp as a scalpel in the deft hands of its makers, with the kind of smarts, wit, filmmaking and force too many other summer films can only dream of. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Although the humor helps, the Groundhog Day-like repetition gets tedious; it makes you feel more like a hamster than a groundhog - or rather a hamster's wheel, going round and round, over and over again. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: It's a star-driven mass-market entertainment that's smart, exciting and unexpected while not stinting on genre satisfactions. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: Walks a tricky tightrope: We chuckle when Rita shoots Cage like a fallen racehorse so the day can restart, but every time he jolts back to life we feel for his gulping, startled agony. Read more

Tony Hicks, San Jose Mercury News: Liman eschews the not-so-subtle "we're-killing-our-planet" message of similar films to let his movie progress without preaching. Edge of Tomorrow manages to keep us interested while not insulting our intelligence. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Why do invading extra-terrestrials always bring with them the single thing that can wipe them out? Couldn't they have hid it on Jupiter or something? Read more

David Thomson, The New Republic: Long before the end, it's an old-fashioned high tech army fighting the Mimics, who are as spirited and pretty as Blunt. The combat is endless and predictable. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: It's fun for a while, but "Edge of Tomorrow" is what the GIs used to call a blivet -- 10 pounds of movie in a five-pound bag. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: The metaphorical overlay of fantasy and history is the best thing Edge of Tomorrow has to offer -- and, for much of its running time, that overlay is enough to lend the movie a shiver of curious power. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A big, bright, loud and occasionally smart entertainment, and well worth seeing once - although not, perhaps, every day for the rest of your life. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: Refreshing and unexpected, both for its humor and for its upending of action norms. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Liman and his screenwriters - Christopher McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects") and Jez and John-Henry Butterworth ("Fair Game") - make their concept feel fresh with smart setups and ambitious (if underdeveloped) themes. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: In "Edge of Tomorrow," Mr. Liman brings Mr. Cruise's smile out of semiretirement and also gives him the kind of physical challenges at which he so brilliantly excels. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: What stays with you are Cruise's off-type performance, a few bravura sequences, and Blunt's molten presence. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The whole thing begins to feel like a giant-screen videogame - with the gamer getting a little further, a little deeper, with each new push of the Start button. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Edge of Tomorrow is clever enough that the viewer doesn't have to feel embarrassed sitting in the audience but not so clever that there's no fun to be had. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: This is one of my favorite movies of the year so far. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It shouldn't work. A human-versus-aliens epic that keeps repeating the same scene over and over again as if the comic tilt of Groundhog Day had turned suddenly dangerous. But Edge of Tomorrow will keep you on edge. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: It has enough plot density to hold your attention for a while, along with a few feints at character development. You might not much notice its fundamental dishonesty and mendacity, except as that odd sick feeling you have later. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Cruise is a delight, exactly what he needs to be, fluid enough for comedy, physical enough for action, always going with the flow and yet finding ways to make moments memorable. Read more

David Haglund, Slate: This is a movie about Tom Cruise working very, very hard to please the world. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Breathlessly exciting, wildly entertaining, "Edge of Tomorrow" is a wake-up call to makers of formulaic alien-invasion thrillers. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Edge of Tomorrow" has neither an edge nor a vision of tomorrow that matters today. Read more

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: The conceit may sound constricting, but Liman (like Harold Ramis before him) gets exceptional mileage out of it, presenting his ever-revolving tale with visual style, narrative velocity, and a wonderful dose of dark humor. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Globe and Mail: All in all, a perfectly superior example of industrially fortified Hollywood fun, and as good a guarantee as Doug Liman can offer that we haven't seen the last of him yet. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: A sharp sci-fi thriller that's going to be hard to beat as the summer's best blockbuster. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Feels sharper and more clever than it might have been in other hands, and for a big summer star vehicle, that's surprise enough. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: The film's Groundhog Day-meets-Independence Day plot is actually pretty genius. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The pulse-pounding action scenes are briskly directed by Doug Liman. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Groundhog Day re-imagined as a sci-fi war game. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: [Cruise] delivers a one-man master class in his own fascinatingly protean screen presence. Read more