Edge of Tomorrow

By John Mulderig, Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) — The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one.

That boiled-down version of a duo of lines from Shakespeare’s tragedy “Julius Caesar” — quoted in its more compact form by Ernest Hemmingway in his novel “A Farewell to Arms” – applies in spades to the protagonist of the intriguing sci-fi action epic “Edge of Tomorrow” (Warner Bros.).

In fact, thanks to this satisfying film’s central plot device, it’s hard to imagine that anyone has ever undergone the multiple demises due the lily-livered quite so literally.

The cringer in question is Army public relations officer Maj. William Cage (Tom Cruise). Even as Earth has suffered the devastating worldwide invasion by murderous aliens sketchily outlined for us by the opening scenes, Cage has kept to the sidelines. He’s more comfortable serving as a spokesman for the armed forces — on CNN, for instance — than fighting with them.

So when Gen. Brigham (Brendan Gleeson), the commander-in-chief of an impending D-Day-like attack designed to liberate continental Europe from its extraterrestrial occupiers, informs Cage that he’s going to be embedded with the frontline troops of the operation, Cage balks.

Insubordination gives way to a clumsy attempt to blackmail his superior, after which Cage finds himself arrested, summarily reduced to the ranks and placed as squarely in harm’s way as the lowliest recruit.

As if to confirm Cage’s worst fears, the vast assault quickly degenerates into a rout. But the unwilling warrior’s seemingly fatal encounter with the enemy has an amazing outcome. It results, not in death, but in his being caught up in a time warp within which he’s forced to live out the day preceding the doomed landing over and over again.

However often he’s killed — and with each repetition, the circumstances of his death vary — he always wakes up at precisely the same moment roughly 24 hours before.

Though initially baffled, Cage eventually makes contact with someone else who has experienced this weird phenomenon: skilled Special Forces operative — and celebrated war hero — Sgt. Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt).

Through being temporarily trapped in a similar chronological loop to Cage’s, Vrataski was able to foresee her adversaries’ battlefield actions, having witnessed them before. She used this windfall of intelligence to win a high-profile but temporary victory over the vicious creatures.

Now, she and an ever more confident Cage set out to deploy this same oddity to reverse humanity’s fading fortunes by scoring a permanent triumph over the intruders.

Cage’s unique path to courage follows a course Christian moviegoers will recognize as running parallel, for some stretches at least, to the ideal transformation believers are meant to undergo. Just as Cage is liberated from the fear of death by repeatedly going through it, and emerging from it, so Christ’s once-and-for all conquest of death is meant to set his followers free from its universal tyranny.

Despite repeated scenes of battlefield chaos, director Doug Liman’s 3-D adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s teen-targeted novel “All You Need Is Kill” mostly shields viewers from gore.

The leads, meanwhile, are too distracted by their military mission to express their mutual attraction in any but the most restrained of ways. In fact, a single joking exchange aside, their relationship — marked, on both sides, by a spirit of self-sacrifice — might have featured in a movie from Hollywood’s golden age. Thus the brief kiss they share at a climactic moment packs quite an emotional wallop.

Only the salty language predictably exchanged between barracks mates really bars endorsement for a youthful audience.

The film contains pervasive action violence with minimal blood, a couple of uses of profanity, about a half-dozen crude and twice as many crass terms and a bit of sexual humor. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

The Fault in Our Stars

By Kurt Jensen, Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) – Only the cynical would refer to the cancer-themed teen drama “The Fault in Our Stars” (Fox) as a five-hankie romance.

But even that wouldn’t be a bad thing in itself. Good cries are cathartic. And true love in the face of untimely death never fails to inspire.

Though sexuality and language put this screen version of John Green’s 2012 novel on the adult side of the ledger, it may be acceptable for the most mature adolescents.

Director Josh Boone’s lush adaptation – scripted by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber – keeps all the beloved aphorisms found in its source material. Yet its overall effect is more clouded and ambiguous.

Still, in Shailene Woodley’s performance of heroine Hazel Grace Lancaster, we’re presented with one of the most appealingly literate and sensible teen girls to appear on the screen in some time.

Hazel and Augustus “Gus” Waters (Ansel Elgort) meet at a cancer support group in Indianapolis. She has thyroid cancer that’s spread to her lungs, making her dependent on a portable oxygen tank. He’s in remission from bone cancer, to which he’s lost a leg.

The group — which meets at an Episcopal church — is led, somewhat ineffectually, by Patrick (Mike Birbiglia). He’s divorced, sings Christian folk songs and, for some unexplained reason, brings along a large “Heart of Jesus” rug he wove himself.

This dubious artifact doesn’t seem to faze the teens, though, and Hazel and Augustus quickly bond over her favourite novel, “An Imperial Affliction,” the fictionalized story of a cancer patient named Anna.

This being a romance, Gus tracks down the book’s author, Amsterdam resident Peter Van Houten (Willem Dafoe), so Hazel can write to him and inquire about Anna’s literary fate.

Gus also arranges for a charitable foundation to fly Hazel, her mother, Frannie (Laura Dern), and himself to the Dutch capital to meet Van Houten. The author turns out to be an abusive drunk who refuses to answer Hazel’s questions.

At one point, he hisses, “You are a failed experiment in mutation!”

From then on, the film is a rumination on the harsh reality of dying. Religious faith gets only oblique mentions. Gus believes in an afterlife; Hazel is unsure.

Their first kiss, shared in – of all places – the attic of the Anne Frank House would seem, on the face of it, like the worst possible example of inappropriate behaviour. But here, the two have learned what real misery is. The verbal abuse of a bitter author sinks into insignificance by comparison.

As portrayed by Elgort, Gus comes off as an amiable narcissist. “I intend to live an extraordinary life. To be remembered,” he tells Hazel. She replies, “Oblivion’s inevitable. If that scares you, I suggest you ignore it. Because that’s what everyone else does.”

This plot line reaches its apogee in the “pre-funeral” Gus stages in which Hazel and friend Isaac (Nat Wolff) read eulogies they’ve composed. The scene also serves as the audience’s dividing line.

Those who love the novel will gush appreciatively. Others may be tempted to bellow, “Life-threatening illness or not, get over yourself!”

The film contains implied premarital sexual activity and fleeting crude and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.- – –