When looking for a movie to watch this weekend, look no further than “Edge of Tomorrow,” which was just added to Peacock at the beginning of the month. Some movies, you have to be in the right mood to watch. Others, you need to have just the right home theater setup to enjoy. But this sci-fi action movie can be enjoyed anywhere, and it might just be Tom Cruise’s last great performance in a movie that wasn’t a sequel to one of his many other roles.
I’m not being hyperbolic either when I say that this movie can be watched anywhere. The first time I watched it was on a plane, and I had a blast. To be fair, action movies are the perfect plane movies, but this movie is just as enjoyable in the comfort of your own home, too.
I’m not the only one who loves “Edge of Tomorrow” either. While the movie arguably underwhelmed at the box office, bringing in just enough money for Hollywood accounting to still declare it a bust, thanks to a massive $178 million budget. But that spending paid off with critics and audiences alike — it scored a 91% fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a nearly identical 90% from audiences.
So if you’re subscribed to Peacock, this is the movie to watch this weekend across all the best streaming services. It’s one of the best action movies of the 2010s, and more importantly, it’s just fun to watch.
‘Edge of Tomorrow’ makes time travel fun — by adding lots of violence
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“Edge of Tomorrow” is based on the Japanese light novel “All You Need Is Kill.” It’s set in a near-future version of Earth, where an alien race known as “Mimics” has conquered most of continental Europe, forcing humanity to unite into a global military force, known as the United Defense Force (UDF).
The UDF still struggles against the mimics, though, until Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) leads the UDF to victory at the Battle of Verdun. This sparks confidence in the UDF, which, led by General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson), decides to invade France to reclaim the country.
But when Brigham orders Major William Cage (Cruise), a public relations officer with no combat experience, to cover the invasion, the cowardly major tries to blackmail the general to avoid the dangerous assignment.
That backfires spectacularly, with Cage now demoted to Private and forced to serve with the infantry in the invasion. The move is intended to get Cage killed, which it does, but not before he’s bathed in the blood of an “Alpha” Mimic — causing him to awake back in England just before the invasion.
At this point, the movie really begins, with Cruise stuck in an endless cycle of waking up, getting thrown into battle and getting killed. But he starts to improve with each death, as he retains the memories from his past lives even after his deaths.
This is one of two things that make “Edge of Tomorrow” work. First, there is the action, which is well executed and well paced. The movie is just 113 minutes long, giving it little time to linger in one place too long, and despite being very heavy on the CGI, it looks good, including the combat between the CGI Mimics against humans in CGI battle suits. In another movie, this would have looked cheap at the time and aged terribly, but the time and money invested in this movie’s visual effects still pays off to this day.
But the other thing that makes this sci-fi movie work is that the time travel element is fun, a welcome plot device rather than a paradox-laden rabbit hole to dive into. I won’t spoil exactly how the time loop functions, which is revealed later in the movie, but when you realize what’s happening, you don’t question whether or not it works or not you just strap yourself in for the rest of the ride. So go stream “Edge of Tomorrow” on Peacock now, and enjoy.
Malcolm McMillan
Malcolm has been with Tom’s Guide since 2022 and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He’s not one to shy away from a hot take, including that “John Wick” is one of the four greatest films ever made.
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