Cruise, for his part, seems to be almost visibly relieved at not having to play the invincible hero for the umpteenth time.
I can only imagine that this must have been the easiest pitch in Hollywood history: “It’s Groundhog Day, but as a Tom Cruise sci-fi action movie!” Sold! Cruise plays a military PR man who finds himself thrown into the shit, battling alien armies only to get killed again and again, learning in increments as he goes along (mainly from badass soldier Emily Blunt). Director Doug Liman takes this live-die-repeat video-game premise and turns it into a wild pretzel-logic action workout. Cruise, for his part, seems to be almost visibly relieved at not having to play the invincible hero for the umpteenth time.