I Watched Edge Of Tomorrow For The First Time, And I'm So Glad Tom Cruise Defied My Expectations

It’s hard to justify why it took me so long to finally watch Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise as a reluctant soldier stuck in a time loop in a war against an alien invasion. I like Tom Cruise, I love good war movies, and I generally like sci-fi. So how did I miss this? Well, I finally watched it, using my Netflix subscription, and I loved it. I especially loved how surprised I was by Cruise’s character.

Tom Cruise comes to in Edge of Tomorrow wake up scene. — (Image credit: Warner Bros.)

I Thought I Knew What It Was About

I knew the basic premise of Edge of Tomorrow. I knew going in that it was about the military set in the future, and I knew that some sort of time/space thing was in play. That was about it, though. Oh, and I knew it was Cruise and Emily Blunt. Beyond that, though, I didn’t know much. I think part of what held me back from watching it is that it looked cheesy to me. As I said, I’m a Cruise fan, after all, I grew up in the ‘80s watching Top Gun and Days of Thunder over and over. I’ll admit, though, I’m a bit worn out with the star always being the perfect hero, as he is in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, from the 2025 movie schedule.

That’s why I was immediately drawn into Edge of Tomorrow. Cruise’s character, Major William Cage, isn’t a perfect hero; he’s not even a reluctant hero at the beginning of the movie. He’s just a crappy guy and a bad soldier. This isn’t at all what I’ve come to expect from Cruise, and I regret assuming I wouldn’t like it for that reason. I’ll go as far as to say that I think it’s one of the best Tom Cruise performances of all time.

Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

The Whole Cast Is Great, But Cruise Really Shines

Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, and the rest of the cast of the movie are fantastic, but Cruise, even more than in other movies, is really great. I love his character arc, even if it is a little rushed at times. It’s so rare that he ever plays someone as detestable as Cage at the beginning of Edge of Tomorrow, so it’s refreshing to see that. Sure, he played swarmy characters in the past, like his hilariously terrible but fun character in Tropic Thunder. Cage is unlikable as a man and as a character. It’s great.

Of course, by the end of Edge of Tomorrow, Cruise’s character becomes the hero we all expect him to be, but the payoff is so much more rewarding since the character has to earn our faith. It’s not like Top Gun or Mission: Impossible, where he’s a hero from the jump, and without question (which makes you wonder why he’s still not appeared in the MCU). I love those movies and his characters in them, but Cage is just better. It’s definitely a movie I could watch over and over–or live over and over, as the case may be–and I plan to. I may even watch it again tonight.