In typical Tom Cruise fashion, his character inEdge of Tomorrow(2014) can be seen continually risking his life, in a seemingly infinite loop, tosave the world yet againfrom extraterrestrial monsters. Directed by Doug Liman, this sci-fi action sleeper hit is based on the Japanese light novel (later adapted to a manga)All You Need Is Killby Hiroshi Sakurazaka.
Although the film becomes rather underwhelming in its final stretch, it largely avoids being redundant by experimenting withfamiliar sci-fi tropesin unexpected ways. The ending, however,deviates greatly from its source material, raising many questions about the final reiteration of events.
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What Is Edge of Tomorrow About?
It is the year 2020, and a horde ofMimics have been at war with humanssince the past five years after taking over most of Europe. The film follows the story of the American public relations officer Major William “Bill” Cage, who confesses openly that he is “not a soldier”. He is the face of the global United Defense Force (UDF), and makes rounds on different talk shows to help drive up the number of recruits. However, General Brigham orders him to be on the front lines of a military operation in France, despite his inexperience in combat. He is assigned to the J-Squad, under Master Sergeant Farell. Predictably so, he is killed within a matter of minutes on the fateful day — but not before being covered in the blood of an unusually large Mimic. He wakes up to find himself24 hours back in time, right when he first arrived at the military base at Heathrow Airport. He discovers that he is trapped in a time loop, where he is forced to relive his mistakes over and over again.
At some point in the “Wake up, maggot” cycle, Cage encounters Sgt. Rita Vrataski, who helped the UDF claim its first victory against the Mimics at the Battle of Verdun. She tells him that she was imprisoned in her own time loop, which enabled her to relive the battle multiple times. In the process of leading the defense to victory, she got badly injured and received a blood transfusion, making her lose the ability to reset the day.
Vrataski takes Cage to Dr. Noah Carter, a specialist in advanced microbiology, who explains that the Mimics act likea large, interconnected organism: the Alpha Mimics are controlled by the Omega, which instinctively turns back the clock when an Alpha is killed — thus, allowing the Mimics (with their knowledge intact) to fight the same battle repeatedly until they win. Since Cage has been exposed to an Alpha’s blood, hebecomes part of the super-organism— which is why he is brought back to life each time he dies. Just before she was injured, Vrataski also experienced visions of the Omega. If its location could be determined, the Omega could be destroyed and the Mimics could be defeated once and for all.
Using the time loop to their advantage, Cage undergoes brutal training to become invinciblein his mech-suit, with Vrataski shooting him in the head each time he seems to falter or if they are about to reach a dead end while fighting the Mimics. After seeing visions of the Omega hiding in a dam in Germany, Cage keeps readjusting his strategies to get there with each reset, buteach timeline seems to lead to Vrataski’s death. As a result, Cage eventually heads to the dam alone, only to be attacked by an Alpha. Realizing that the Mimics have falsely led him here to bleed him out (and strip him of his ability to go back in time), Cage deliberately drowns himself to reunite with Vrataski and figure out a new way to destroy the sentient beings.
How Does Edge of Tomorrow End?
In the third act of the film, Cage and Vrataski decide that the only way to kill the Mimics is by using Carter’s prototype device (which Brigham confiscated) to locate the Omega. As Cage’s blood is similar to that of an Alpha, the transponder can be used on him to determine where the Omega is. After breaking into the Ministry of Defense and gaining hold of the device, Cage uses it to discover that the Omega is under the Louvre in Paris. However, he gets severely injured while fleeing from the military police and loses consciousness. He wakes up to find that he has been given a blood transfusion, which severs his link to the Mimics.
In his final attempt, Cage enlists J-Squad to accompany him and Vrataski to Paris and help kill the Omega. They steal a UDF plane and fly to the Louvre but, one by one, each soldier is killed by the Mimics until only Cage and Vrataski remain. Coming to terms with the fact that they would never make it out alive no matter the outcome, Vrataski distracts an Alpha (and is subsequently killed)while Cage dives underwatertowards the Omega. The Alpha pursues him and stabs him through the chest, but Cage manages to drop multiple grenades into the Omega. In the ensuing explosion, the Omega dies along with all the Mimics, and Cage is seeped into its blood. He seemingly regains his power during the Omega’s ultimately failed attempt at resetting the day.
Cage wakes up at a much earlier point in the past now — most likely because the reset this time also happened before the France invasion — and is, once again, on his way to meet Brigham. As his helicopter lands, he is greeted by an officer who informs him that the war has shifted in their favor now, as a signal from Paris destroyed all the Mimics that morning. Russia and China are now advancing towards Europe, and the forces are equipped to attack the western front. At the Heathrow base, Cage discovers that J-Squad and Vrataski are alive, all unaware of the events that happened earlier. The film ends with Cage grinning at Vrataski when she asks who he is.
Is the Ending Different in All You Need Is Kill?
All You Need Is Killhas a somewhat different set of rules involving the Mimics: instead of the Omega and Alphas, there is a Nexus and many Antennae — all of which can trigger a reset of time. When the Mimics die, they can send a signal to their past selves, allowing them to change their course of action and avoid being killed.
The central character Keiji Kiriya is caught in the time loop when he kills an Antenna, the mechanics of which are explained to him by Rita Vrataski later on. The two proceed to kill all the Antennae after over 160 attempts, when Rita suddenly attacks Keiji. As their abilities have made them Antenna-like, it enables the Mimics to still turn back the day. Hence,one of them has to diebefore the survivor kills the Nexus, because the loop will keep continuing otherwise. Keiji and Rita engage in a reluctant fight, with Rita eventually getting killed. Keiji goes on to destroy the remaining Mimics and the Nexus. There is no reset this time; Rita remains dead, and he becomes a war hero.
