Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

4.9/5

Edge of Tomorrow is one of the smartest action movies I've seen in a very long time. Tom Cruise stars as an unwilling businessman-turned-foot soldier in the midst of a global battle against an alien invasion. He gets killed quickly in the trenches, only to discover that he must relive that fateful day over and over again. He finds out that this same phenomenon happened to another soldier (Blunt) earlier in the war, so he seeks her out in the hopes that they can join forces and defeat the aliens.

Battle scenes have a jarring, chaotic feel, reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan during the beachfront invasion. In the midst of the violence, the cinematography remains smooth and crisp, with sharp editing and clear shots. But director Doug Liman also does a lot with the repeating day premise. The day resets sometimes quickly, for comic effect, sometimes slowly, for an agonizing emotional hit. Despite the repetition, every time feels interesting and exciting, new and worthwhile. It builds on the Groundhog Day framework instead of stealing from it.

There is an unexpected chemistry on screen between Cruise and Blunt, adding a tender human element to the exciting sci-fi backstory. It's not particularly fresh, but it feels genuine. And it makes watching the movie so much more rewarding. I highly recommend Edge of Tomorrow: it's genre-defying in the best way possible, straddling diverse moods expertly, appealing to the comic, romantic, action junkie, time travel nerd in all of us.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1631867/

The Terminator (1984)

3/5

The Terminator is James Cameron's first big movie (unless you count Piranha Part Two: The Spawning, about flying killer fish, which I have not seen and do not wish to) and you can tell he doesn't have the same technical expertise as he displays in his later movies. But you can see the nuggets of talent that enabled him to make the two most profitable films of all time. Cameron loves special effects--and there are quite a few good special effects here--but they severely date the film. And the bad special effects (e.g., the animatronic Schwarzenegger) overshadow the good ones.

Make no mistake, Schwarzenegger is the reason to see this movie. He delivers killer one-liners with aplomb and keeps the tension throughout. Unfortunately, this movie has been overshadowed by its bigger brother and sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. And for good reason: the sequel is far better in just about every way. But this movie is good enough to put you on the edge of your seat and pull you in until the very end. I suppose that's enough to enjoy the movie, but it's not enough to keep it in the conversation whenever somebody mentions Terminator.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/

Haywire (2011)

4/5

Steven Soderbergh's Haywire is a tightly-paced action thriller about a covert ops agent (Carano) who is double-crossed by her boss (McGregor). If the plot feels tired and rehashed, that's because it is. Story-wise, nothing about this movie is all that new or interesting, despite the scriptwriter's best efforts at infusing it with twists and turns. Two things make this movie good, and two things only. One is the directing and the other is the fighting. And there are a lot of fight scenes. Soderbergh avoids the frenzied over-editing you find in lots of modern action films and keeps the camera far enough away so you can actually tell what's going on. The fighting feels authentic thanks to the lead, Carano, who is an MMA fighter and American Gladiator. Unfortunately, she's not a great actress. Her lines are cold and hard, so half the time she manages to sound like a badass and the other half she sounds like an idiot reading a script. If you know what to expect going in, this movie will more than live up to your expectations, but it's far from a genre-bending production.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1506999/

Titanic (1997)

4.9/5

James Cameron's Titanic is an engrossing film, epic in scope yet focused on the individual players. It is a romance, certainly, but a classic one that will appeal even to non-romantics because it is a good story first and foremost. While there is nothing particularly original about the plot, it is a universal and timeless tale, well-told: doomed love attempting to escape the shackles of modern society; man's hubris resulting in their inevitable demise. Where it succeeds is in allowing the plot to go where the characters find themselves, instead of forcing the characters down the writer's pre-ordained path.

The technical achievements in the film are extraordinary for the time, and mesmerizing still. The cinematography and special effects are awe-inspiring, and the editing keeps the 3 hour movie surprisingly brisk and fast-paced. The acting, however, is where the movie really shines. Not only impressive for their ages, but impressive in their own right, DiCaprio and Winslet give heart-wrenching and breathtaking performances. I somehow forgot that they can make your heart skip with anticipation, with dread, with hope. You really care for the leads, and the stakes are raised that much higher when the big ship starts its slow descent.

The movie isn't perfect. It has a somewhat silly narrator structure wrapped around the perfectly self-sufficient story, and Bill Paxton's acting therein just left me cold. The script is also full of sailing cliches and movie tropes, from the captain sinking with the ship to the overly noble orchestra playing waltzes while the Titanic literally sinks inch by inch. Even if that stuff actually happened, that shouldn't have been the focus of the movie. Regardless, I finally appreciate why this movie holds such power to nearly everybody who watches it. It is a phenomenal achievement all around.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/