In the not-too-distant future, a race of aliens invades Earth. No army in the world can stand against them. Major William Cage dies in combat, but the impossible happens – he finds himself in a time loop. Time after time he finds himself in the same battle, fighting and dying over and over again. And each repeated battle brings him closer to figuring out how to defeat the enemy.
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The sci-fi thriller Fringe of the Future, based on Hiroshi Sakurazuki’s novel All You Need is to Kill, is a new directorial effort by Doug Lyman, who has established himself in Hollywood as someone who is not afraid to take risks and break the rules. The picture promised to be a fighting Groundhog Day – with an exciting plot, large-scale battles and the time loop in which the main character finds himself. As it turned out, the film exceeded the wildest expectations – a blockbuster, which seamlessly blends war with aliens, time travel and romantic comedy, a demanding audience has long been waiting. And he waited for it.
The not-too-distant future. A world at war with alien mimics arriving on Earth in a meteor shower. The combined defense forces are struggling to resist the alien invaders and their powers are running out. Who would have thought that a rookie officer, who has never been on the battlefield before, could change the course of the war. Major William Cage, a public relations specialist in the U.S. Army, is forced by fate to engage in combat, condemning himself to death. And here the writers break the first rule of action movies – not to kill the main character. The impossible happens – in the course of the battle the hero of Tom Cruise becomes infected with mimic’s blood, gaining the ability to “reset” the day lived and come to consciousness on the eve of a battle that will take the lives of the entire squad.
This is not a hero of our time at all. Although Cage is in the army, he has no heroism whatsoever – a lifelong coward, afraid of the sight of blood and terrified of the prospect of participating in hostilities. But due to circumstances, the character’s behavior changes, and with it, so does the viewer’s attitude toward him. You begin to genuinely empathize with Cage, because he finds himself in his worst nightmare and has to live through this bloody hell day after day.
Many pictures are dedicated to the theme of time travel, so sometimes it seems that it is simply impossible to make something new. But no, the plot of Edge of Future keeps the viewer’s attention for the entire two-hour running time so that they just can’t tear themselves away from the screen. This is largely due to the principle of the time loop itself – the viewer follows the protagonist through an intricately twisted chain of events gaining momentum. At the same time, though the hero lives through the same day over and over again, he by no means seems the same, because each time Cage behaves differently, becoming a completely different man – brave and valiant, strikingly different from the cowardly, selfish PR man we see at the beginning of the film.
One of the main highlights of the film is the unusual relationship between William Cage and Sergeant Rita Vritaski. Rita is a violent, fierce and dangerous character. Casual partners, relying on each other and at first perceiving each other solely as a tool to achieve their goals, they realize that they cannot survive without each other. But the intrigue is that each time their acquaintance starts from scratch, forcing them to learn to trust each other.
The film would lose out in many ways if it weren’t for its cast. You can relate to Tom Cruise in many ways, but as Major Cage, he is extraordinarily good and convincing, showing what a long way his character has had to go as a person. Emily Blunt looks very organically paired with him – a brilliant actress who played a strong female character. Watching her play is a pleasure, so easily and effortlessly she got into her role.
One of the undeniable merits of the picture is its impressive visuals. The battles with the aliens look incredibly realistic, and the exo-suits on the soldiers are perceived as their second skin. The sights of Paris become the backdrop for the final battle – perhaps no feature film has ever had such a large-scale airplane scene. The soundtrack is so in harmony with the events on the screen that it is simply impossible to perceive it separately – it builds up suspense exactly when it is necessary but does not distract spectators from the actions of the characters.
“Fringe of the Future” is a futuristic action film, which leaves an indelible impression after watching it. It is not just a “popcorn blockbuster”, it is an intelligent film with stunning special effects, a stellar cast and plenty of scripted twists. The film comes out in wide release on June 5 and I strongly recommend you not to miss it.
Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (77.5 Mb/s)
Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Chinese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles
English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Japanese, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hindi, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish.
