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[ellevandersneed]

Edge of Tomorrow: A Film Review

I've gotten a few positive comments on a casual review I wrote for the 2014 Doug Liman x Tom Cruise vehicle: EDGE OF TOMORROW and figured it'd be fun to share my thoughts here! Review: vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Phenomenal and deeply Randian - a compelling visual treatise on why certain individuals - say, Übermensch - are being held back by the limiting nature of hierarchy and beaurocracy when they could be achieving greatness through physical conditioning via extreme circumstance. This is the framework of all great classic American™ actioners of the era of the mainstreaming of Objectivist infused American Libertarianism (1960's - now) that posit a hero who must defy his superiors (be they material: "boss" or ideal: "rule of law"). Edge of Tomorrow extends this framework to time itself, in which the Übermensch heroes of Thomas Cruise Mapother IV and Emily Blunt are both existent outside of the ideological constraint of "history" and are thus able to dominate and change it. 

It is somewhat interesting, the power fantasy of failure into greatness, with the meta understanding that the material is illusion beyond its existence as a challenge; that is to say, the power fantasy of always being able to "try again." This fantasy has it's appeal as can be seen extensively in, essentially most if not all, video games which are only differentiated from one another by the contents within which are designed for the player(s) to overcome. This is fundamental to any videogame where you can die or get a game over screen or are sent back to the beginning or moments before your fatal error is made. To reiterate: the fantasy of being able to always try again is a popular one, infused with a lot of familiar media. I mentioned Objectivist infused American Libertarianism specifically because the ideology of Edge of Tomorrow, when Tom Cruise reaches the zenith of his experience and is faced, ultimately, with a choice, he chooses (as if this could ever be a spoiler for a Tom Cruise action vehicle) humanity over himself. He understands that his happiness lies with the happiness of humankind, and rejects one of the most selfish, hateful aspects of that antagonistic, thoughtless ideology of Objectivism. This veers the film in a new direction, but this new evolution of philosophy is ambiguous. What is humanity that we must sacrifice ourselves for? Is this a fascistic moral or an empathetic one? It hard to answer. Should one give her life to save the lives of many? The ideologically militant often agree with this idea, to the extent that it is the often framed as the hallmark sign of one who has become "militant" in belief. What saves Edge of Tomorrow from having to answer this question is it's own medium: entertainment. Or this is what muddies the waters further. I will step back from this debate for the moment.

So, one of the main changes from the light novel ("All You Need Is Kill" - Hiroshi Sakurazaka) is that Cruise's protagonist is no longer a fresh recruit but the face of the propaganda arm of the international "earth" military coalition* The only way he is able to get as far as he does in the narrative is through his skills as a negotiator and public speaker. He is held back by three things: his own flaws in personality, his physical prowess, and the overwhelming, amorphous might of fascistic, militarized government. As time passes, and as he dies, he is able to convince people more and more of his preferred outcome. He does not improve at speech craft but instead changes as a person, and utilizes his tools of speech craft to better communicate. He finds that people submit to strong authority, not uniform and ideal of authority, but this Übermensch behavior of "taking charge, properly utilizing violence, and applying a firm, paternalistic guidance (utilized by Cruise in the later Mission Impossible titles) to get what you want." They do not respect Tom Cruise the Weasel but Tom Cruise the Commandant, the "Great Hero" and fall in line. Cruise can only utilize his powers of speech as well as he does because of his innate capacity for it and thus the writers adapting the story for english audiences have changed Cruise's occupation from fresh recruit, to chief propagandist. The system is corrupt (as I will discuss shortly) but the individuals in positions of power have achieved their positions fairly and on merit. The myth of the meritocratic nature of fascist governments is one I personally recognize as being believed by American Libertarian individuals who find heroes in their own military or heroic figures in the old armies of the terror regimes of the pre-neoliberalism era (those brave designers of German Tanks, Nazi 'Super-Weapons... Japanese Zeroes... Gee, those Nazis sure were evil but doggone it they had fashion! I love Albert Speer's architecture! I pledge allegiance to Wernher Von Braun and his darling Apollo Saturn V rockets!). The "indomitable human spirit" which is itself defined by its capacity for productive contribution, is spiritually too powerful to be hindered by the confines of beaurocracy and "ethics" and "ideological commitment." Again it must be stressed that although all humans possess the "indomitable spirit" only the Übermensch may be allowed to tap into it during times of extreme crisis, so as to guide the rest of humanity and allow us feeble mortals to achieve our own personal, lesser happiness. Why else then would Emily Blunts character be the greatest fighter in the earth military? Even with its flaws, the best fighter is still the best fighter and, as the movie itself says at the beginning - Imagine an army of Rita Vrataski's - Imagine a world where everyone is the best... it's a shame, the movie says, that only a select few people actually are. Why else would Tom Cruise be relegated from an everyman role into a position of power and prestige? Why individualize him beyond his evolving response to the extreme circumstances he is put under? Again this is open ended. Maybe he is the coward propagandist because he is a special individual set apart from the rest OR he is someone we are trained not to like; a faker, a selfish coward, a.... valor thief? Hm.... I'd say it's a mixture of both. Either way we are meant to dislike him, only to find his "true" spirit when presented and molded by extreme circumstance. "Hard times create strong men", etc...

Let's discuss the state of Earth in Edge of Tomorrow. The aliens have invaded several times and humanity has lost... Germany? Uh oh. In response, the governments of Earth have formed the United Defense Force. The UDF employs a branch dedicated entirely to media appearance - the army itself has a propaganda machine. Tom Cruise is arrested (probably for good reason) but is not given a fair trial and is, essentially, lined up for execution. His execution will come with his deployment as a part of the first wave of troops against the alien invasion. The army leadership knows it is sending in its first wave to die, or at least knows that the ground troops are expendable and thus dehumanize their own citizens. Commanding officers are allowed to torment their respective charges and can refuse to teach privates crucial skills for survival as punishment. The CO that Cruise tries to reason with says he is not American but is "from Kentucky," thus referring, or becoming relatable to, the American Libertarian "states rights" demographic. In any case, this both endears us to the CO and alienates him further from Cruise - which elicits both endearment and anxiety in the audience. The advanced technology used by the military is both meant to impress (see: film poster) and reveal the failure of fascist beaurocracy: the guns jam, design flaws make the suits somewhat dangerous, the main scientist character is himself an outcast because his superiors didn't understand his "radical technological theories," etc. Cruise ultimately always abandons the exosuit. Rita Vrataski is never believed when she was a part of the loop and thus the "greatest fighter against the aliens" is relegated to the front lines and marketing material. It is no wonder that Cruise and Blunt have to reject this corrupt system and "do things their own way."

The film tries to tie itself to Starship Troopers by opening on marketing material meant to hype up the war effort: the ads and news reports themselves feel like something out of Metal Gear solid and give the impression that we will be watching a fun, "popcorn," satire. It's hard for me not to see this as the dumb guy's interpretation of Verhoeven's "Troopers" but with a such a clearheaded interpretative vision (aside from what I feel are a couple of missteps) that it becomes an articulate dumb guys idea of Starship Troopers' something more in line with the Heinlein original than Verhoeven and Neumeier's adaptation. The articulation, the "clearheaded-ness" that I talk about helps create a refreshing picture. It is, in a weird way, nice to see something with such a recognizable language that seems to understand what it is preaching without "overtly" preaching it and thus remaining "entertainment." Edge of Tomorrow is the "preferred" dumb actioner, superior to other narratives within the same vein critically. It is looked back on fondly. "Those so and so movies are so old hat... but I loved Edge of Tomorrow! It's better than Cruises other action junk lately! (Jack Reacher, Oblivion, The Mummy... Knight and Day????)" It makes a compelling argument for self-sacrifice and discipline and individuality. It is good propaganda, entertaining even, and I wonder if that is what people are drawn to in the USAmerican canon of Action Masterpieces. A lot of fun... but watch out! Its ideology is actually kinda dogshit! I think Hayao Miyazaki would like this movie in a bad way. 👍👍

*(which is itself headed by one of the 5-6 Irishmen that you've heard of in the acting world that you know is Irish, Brendan Gleeson.... I can presume his character lore is that he was a part of the Northern Ireland occupation force before being promoted to head a military operation on foreign (non-British) soil or else the British ex-Empire has totally and utterly collapsed in the face of the slow alien invasion because there is no way they'd let an ol' Irish fella be in charge of an operation this big unless he got trained on shooting rubber bullets at his neighbors.)