Story: The Mimics are set to take over the world in this post-apocalyptic outing. Humanity’s hope rests on a soldier who is caught in a time loop. Can he use his powers to defeat the alien hordes? Review: US Army Major William Cage (Cruise) is not exactly warrior material. Serving as a lily-livered mediarelations officer, he has neither the guts nor the gumption for actual combat, even if it is a battle on which the fate of the world hinges. When he is summoned to London by General Brigham (Gleeson) for a briefing, he is given a mission that’s a one-way ticket to the front-lines in Normandy, France.

Cage tries to wrangle out of it by blackmailing Brigham. For this, he is arrested, stripped of rank and forcibly sent to the staging point at Heathrow Airport, just like an ordinary private. There, he is deployed with J-Squad. The Mimics, controlled by an entity named the Omega, have taken over most of Europe. With their timecontrol powers, they can actually learn and use the very same tactics humans themselves use, before they’ve even used them.

When an Alpha Mimic (more powerful than ordinary Mimics) is killed by Cage (who also dies in the struggle), its powers get transferred to him. Subsequently, each loop begins where Cage snaps awake on a pile of luggage, meets Master Sergeant Farrell Bartolome (Paxton) and is deployed to the front, only to die in a different manner.

Cage can either relive the horror of an infinite loop or he must find a way to destroy the Omega and break out of the loop. GI Jane-like Rita Vrataski (Blunt), who excelled on the battlefields of Verdun, helps him understand the process. And things then begin to change. Cage’s emergence as a soldier who actually has a fighting chance against the enemy is fascinating. Writer Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s story has solid sci-fi credentials and Cruise proves that he still has the chops to pull off mega action movies. Edge of Tomorrow is one of his most compelling and nuanced performances in this genre.