Director: Doug Liman

Writer: Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth (Screenplay) Hiroshi Sakurazaka (Novel ‘All You Need Is Kill’)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton, Jonas Armstrong, Tony Way

Plot: When Major Cage (Cruise) gets sent into battle by General Brigham (Gleeson), he ends up going in under prepared and with no combat experience. During the battle he witnesses everyone in his unit get killed by the aliens known as Mimics. Just when he dies he finds himself waking up the day before. Cage gets stuck in a time loop having to go back into battle again and again, until he meets Rita (Blunt) an elite soldier who has been through the same thing. Together they must find a way to stop the time loop and destroy the alien invaders, but just how many times must Cage die?

Verdict: Great Action Time Travel Film

Story: If you put time travel in any film, you usually get the confusion of what will happen if, wait that isn’t right and too many questions than answers. This makes things very simple, it simply just makes the day restart no paradoxes or anything to confuse. Only one person goes back in time and only he knows what will happen the others have to trust him. The invasion angle is good because a lot of these films are the beginning or the aftermath; this seems to be right in the middle. When you watch this you will enjoy and it has good humorous deaths for Cage just when he thinks he has it all worked out. Everything flows well and instead of just doing the same old full routine it cuts to the scenes which are trying to find a new solution. (9/10)

Actor Reviews

Tom Cruise: Cage the Major who ends up back in a unit, but who gains the ability to re-live the same day over and over until he finds a way to stop an alien invasion. Good performance from Cruise who gets to have a lot of fun with all the action and comical death scenes. (9/10)

Emily Blunt: Rita the poster solider who gained all her skills because she also got stuck in a time loop, she trains Cage to be a better solider as well as joining him in the battle to finish the invaders for good. Good performance showing she likes her time travel films after ‘Looper’ and can handle it with the big boys. (9/10)

Brendan Gleeson: General Brigham he wants to end the war and ends up sending Cage to the front line for an easy win that turns into a slaughter. Good villainous general role but not enough screen time. (7/10)

Bill Paxton: Sergeant Farell who trains Cage but has to keep him in line and punishes the rest of the unit when he doesn’t follow instructions. Good performance but simple really also not enough screen time. (7/10)

Director Review: Doug Liman – Good direction to create a smart time travel film that will not make you scratch your head after. (9/10)

Action: Plenty of action throughout be it war battles or just the training it is all top action. (10/10)

Sci-Fi: With only small increase in technology this comes off as a real future battle and the time travel works to make it all come together. (10/10)

Settings: Most of the film is set in two settings the military base and the battle field which are both created very well, the additional ones also complete the film for settings. (10/10)
Special Effects: Great special effects to create the alien invaders, the battles and death scenes. (10/10)

Suggestion: I believe this really is one to be watching it has nearly everything a time travel film really needs without confusing or open questions. The film should be enjoyed by all. (Watch)

Best Part: Rita just killing Cage every time he gets hurt.

Worst Part: Being picky here, lack of support characters involvement.

Action Scene Of The Film: The first invasion.

Funniest Scene: Rita killing Cage is very funny.

Kill Of The Film: Cage by Rita to restart the day.

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: I would like to think not.

Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: It could get a special effects nod.

Box Office: $33 Million (Non – USA)

Budget: $178 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 53 Minutes

Tagline: Live, Die, Repeat

Overall: The Best Action Time Travel Film Ever?

Rating 

Director: Mike Flanagan

Writer: Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard (Screenplay)

Starring: Karen Gillian, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, Annalise Basso, Garrett Ryan, James Lafferty

Plot: Tim Russell (Thwaites) is being released from a mental home at the age of 21 due to something that happened while he was a young child. His sister Kaylie (Gillian) is waiting for him and plans to talk him into fulfilling a promise he made with her when they were children. She has got her hands on a mirror that she believes to be reasonable for the incident which left their parents Marie (Sackhoff) and Alan (Cochrane) dead. She plans to use the mirror to draw out whatever it is causing a string of deaths and finish it all once and for all.

Verdict: What Happened?

Story: I really didn’t follow what was happening here at all, the jumps between the past and present are awful, plus just figuring out what was real or a trick is just as confusing. The ending you could see coming a mile off and next to no jumps leaves this film giving us just talking, talking, a bit of shouting and screaming and finally more talking about what was real or what was made up to cover up what happened. (2/10)

Actor Reviews

Karen Gillian: Kaylie the sister determined to uncover the truth about what happened to her parents and stop it once and for all. She pushes her brother into helping but could it be that she is really the crazy one of the siblings? I can’t blame her for a terrible script and she does well with what little she has to work with. (6/10)

Brenton Thwaites: Tim freshly out the mental home he gets caught up in his sister’s plan to uncover a truth he believe he has come to deal with. This is another case where he does well without much to work with. (6/10)

Katee Sackhoff: Marie the mother who is slowly breaking down because of the suspicious her husband is having an affair, but is she being controlled by something more sinister? She plays the range on emotions well throughout. (6/10)

Rory Cochrane: Alan the husband who has started to act strangely ever since the family moved into a new house. Good performance playing the difference between good and bad well. (6/10)

Director Review: Mike Flanagan – Doesn’t do a very good job here, makes a very messy story with no scares no suspense just endless talking. (2/10)

Horror: No horror involved that offers anything scary. (2/10)

Settings: What should be a good setting really doesn’t add anything to the film even though it is good for the genre. (5/10)
Special Effects: Poor special effects well when some are needed they fail to use them. (3/10)

Suggestion: This isn’t even worth trying to watch it really doesn’t do anything for a horror fan. (Avoid)

Best Part: Nothing

Worst Part: The jumping story.

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: Hopefully not

Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: No

Box Office: $28,728,472

Budget: $5 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

Tagline: You see what it wants you to see.

Overall: Awful ‘Horror’ Film

Rating 

22 Jump Street  – After making their way through high school, big changes are in store for officers Schnidt and Jenko when they deep undercover at a local college.

My Guess for Rating – 71%
My Anticipation Rating – 50%
Will It Be Number One In UK? – No

Cheap Thrills – A scheming couple put a struggling family man and his old friend through a series of increasingly twisted dares over the course of an evening at a local bar.

My Guess for Rating – 70%
My Anticipation Rating – 50%
Will It Be Number One In UK? – No

Grace of Monaco – The story of former Hollywood star Grace Kelly’s crisis of marriage and identity, during a political dispute between Monaco’s Prince Rainier III and France’s Charles De Gaulle, and a looming French invasion of Monaco in the early 1960s.

My Guess for Rating – 30%
My Anticipation Rating – 1%
Will It Be Number One In UK? – No

Newguy’s Pick of the Week – Cheap Thrills