Hard Reset: The Movie: The Review · 4:10pm Jun 7th, 2014
So as many of you know, the new Hard Reset movie, renamed Edge of Tomorrow, hit the big screen this weekend. Sure, they didn't technically 'acknowledge' or 'credit' or 'pay royalties for' my work, but I think we all know the score. So, how'd it turn out?
Well, the casting of Tom Cruise in Twilight Sparkle's role was certainly a bold choice. They kept the 'not really a soldier' element, here's he's a media-savvy public face for the anti-alien campaign with a total aversion to combat who pisses off the wrong person and ends up dropped into the initial invading force on the day before they make their big assault on the changelings (played here by aliens). I suppose toning down Twilight's baseline badassery is an understandable choice; makes the eventual competence that much more impressive. Anyway, Cruise is never an actor who I've disliked for any on-camera reason, and that doesn't change here. Dude still has action hero chops.
Anyway, dude suits up in a mech suit (the movie's way of bringing humanity up to the ridiculously OP nature of MLP's setting) and gets dropped into Normandy. No, really, the aliens landed in Germany, took over Europe before they stalled out on the Russian front, and now the big counterattack is a beach landing in northern France. The parallels are not subtle. What was supposed to be a cakewalk against token resistance turns out to be an ambush, with the aliens already expecting them and wiping them out with ease. Although we do get introduced to Luna at this point.
I wasn't initially sure I was going to like the idea of giving Luna an expanded role in the movie, but Emily Blunt did a pretty good job with her. Certainly nailed the whole cold, distant, aloofness haunted-by-the-past thing while still being capable of kicking a copious amount of changeling flank. Giving her some familiarity with the time loop mechanic that Twilight ends up going through was a nice nod to her relationship with Star Swirl in the original stories, even though they've changed how it works here and don't otherwise mention it. But there was one thing about her that almost wrecked the movie for me right there around the 15-20 minute mark.
They gave Home Run to Luna, you guys! I don't think Twilight got to kill a single changeling with him! Changing him into a sword is a pretty substantial departure in and of itself, but that verged on the unforgivable. It's still pretty awesome, and of all three of the main characters I'd say Home Run nailed the part best despite not having any dialogue to work with, but I just wanted to make sure you were all ready for that when it happens.
As for the changelings (called Mimics here, despite the fact that they don't take other's forms) have gotten a pretty cool re imagining. They're still hive minded, but they've traded the insect motif for one based more on evil, sentient metal. Think Terminator 2 meets zerglings. The constant ebb and flow and shifting certainly sells their alien nature, although at times I found that it made the action scenes a little too busy to really track what's going on, but I suppose that may be intentional. And you see the same beach invasion quite a few times, so gradually getting better and better as a viewer at seeing order through the chaos as Twilight gets more and more competent is kind of a cool idea. They definitely feel threatening, although one criticism I have it that I'd have liked to see a bit more variety than just the standard issue dog-things and the bigger, meaner, bluer dog-things. Their ability to twist their shapes helps a lot to keep the same monster fresh throughout the movie. But the first time through, obviously, they kill everyone.
And then Twilight wakes up again. 'On your feet, maggot," isn't the worst substitute for 'well that didn't work,' I'll let it slide. Why the looping is happening, why it's happening to Twilight, and how it ties in with the nature of the invaders is actually a change I'm going to say is an improvement over the original story. Much more self-contained. I won't spoil much of why it's happening here, but mechanically it's somewhere between the mechanics of Hard Reset and Horizon's Hard Reset 2: Reset Harder while still being its own distinct thing. This is also a good place to point out something that pertains to the entire movie. Reinforce the eye-hooks in your ceiling if you have to, because you're going to need some strong suspension of disbelief to enjoy the movie. Had I written this right after seeing it last night I'd be raving more, but the more I turn the little details over in my head the more 'why didn't they... couldn't she have... why is there..." questions pop in. To some extent that's inevitable when you're packing years of looping into a two-hour film, and I suppose the answer could always be 'they tried that in another loop and it didn't work.' Still, it's definitely a movie that will always take the cooler idea over the more practical one. During the film itself, the only time I was screaming at the characters to do something different was between the general opening the safe in Whitehall and the blood transfusion.
Anyway, so once we get into the loops themselves, well, if you don't like Tom Cruise in real life do I have the movie for you! I mean it's PG-13 so there's only so much gore they can show onscreen, but there are enough random deaths placed right where you don't expect them to be that are spot-on moments of black comedy. But of course the storming of the beach intercut with a montage of Twilight training on the Ridiculously Impractical and Dangerous Obstacle Course, as I came to think of it, were extremely satisfying.
I also like that, though they certainly use the battle on the beach as the major place to dump their action budget, there's plenty of variety in the second half of the movie. They throw in enough references to the whole post-train part of Hard Reset where the original plan is in shambles and Twilight just tries to run away/goof off/seduce Luna without it sidetracking the central story for too long. And I can't talk about the third act and how they keep the stakes high without spoilers, but it's certainly a huge departure from the plot of the original story.
Anyway, for all my nitpicking Edge of Tomorrow is certainly a good time and a movie I'd certainly see again. I'm happy to proclaim it to be Time Loop Approved
I just wish they hadn't cut the scene with the weather vane.
A lot of people have said it before, but I'll say it again: there needs to be a way to upvote blog posts!
Awesome review!
WHAT HOW AM I JUST SEEING THIS NOW THIS IS AWESOME
This made me giggle, then I had to carefully dodge the question of what the weather vane scene was.
Overall, a nice review, but I don't think they were making a direct movie out of your story; more like using your story as inspiration. Plus, baseball bats tend to break easily when wielding them with exoskeleton-style things (speaking from experience), especially if you hit solid metal things. It makes sense they made it into a sword, which both can do more damage and can avoid breakage more easily.
I haven't seen the movie yet, though. I'll do that today or tomorrow and reread it, then review the review again.
Movies actually based off of a manga named "All You Need Is Kill" which is based off of a Japanese light novel which goes by the same name.
Just thought you'd like to know <3
The first thing I thought when I saw the trailer for the film was think of your fic. Then re-read it. All in all a great experience.
Lol
Now I have to hit the cinema.
Hey guys! Ever read the novelization of "Groundhog Day" that just came out? Yeah, they renamed it to "Hard Reset," and it features a bunch of ponies for whatever reason...
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I recently learned that, and though I haven't read it yet it's already on my Kindle. I wanted to see the movie without the preconceptions of having just read the book, but I'm certainly planning to in the very near future.
They kept that part back for the sequel.
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Good Guy Eakin xD
I've read the entire trilogy and I never got the weather vane
When I first saw the trailer I was actually in the process of reading the Timeloop Trilogy, and thought that you both got inspiration from some other source, like an actual professional novel, or a twenty year old movie(Not counting Ground Hog Day because that's substantially different), or a true story. But this... wow.
2183744 As in what is even being talked about? Or what is specifically done with it?
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As
2183693 said, the movie is based on a Japanese novel/manga. I haven't read said novel yet, but I plan to. I have no idea if anyone involved in the production of Edge of Tomorrow has ever read anything I've written, but the premises were so similar I couldn't resist doing my review this way.
Can you upvote blog posts?
2183693 ... which is, itself, based off of Hard Reset. Clearly.
You think thats' bad? Hasbro took one of my characters and I got no credit for it!
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Seriously, what is this shit!? I intend to sue, care to join me?
Truly an amazing review. Now I have to see this movie.
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Waah not even gonna lie, lucky as balls. Im reading the manga atm and I really wanna read the book as well Q.Q.
2183711 Groundhog Day directed by Michael Bay and Meghan McCarthy.
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I'd discovered the manga months ago, then later saw this trailer for a movie called "Edge of tomorrow". The idea looked... disturbingly familiar to the manga. After a little research, I'd indeed found they were both based on the same novel, and I've been awaiting it ever since.
After having watched four movies in the last month or two, namely Spiderman, Xmen, Godzilla and Edge, I can rank it thus:
Godzilla < Spidey <<<< Xmen <<< Edge.
It was exactly what I was hoping for, and I kinda want to go see it again.
So, Twilight end up training in the recusively named
R.I.D.O.C U LOS?
Making the training recursively recusively recursive with the time loops?
Some time ago, I saw a "Coming Soon" poster for Edge of Tomorrow
The first thought that popped into my head after that:
Is this Hard Reset?
And then this blog post shows up.
2183711 What are YOU talking about? That came out years ago! It's called Best Night Ever. Get up to speed, scrub!
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2183944 Which is itself an awesome story!
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Okay, this one's a bit of a stretch, but still...
We'll never know what happens with the weather vane...
What.
2184061 Pretty much sums up my opinion of this review.
you know, this is what I was thinking when I heard this movie was coming out. I just read you fic a few months before the trailer and seeing it made me think of Hard Reset. What sucks now is that every other movie Idea after this is going to be considered a copy or alternate universe of this one cause it came first. I really wanted to adapt this story to the big screen when I get some experience under my belt, and when I finish L4Derpy, but now I have no Idea what to think. I still wanna do it, but now I have to change things.
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Eakin can correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume the weather vane is sort of like Marsellus Wallace's briefcase in Pulp Fiction - they intentionally never show you what's inside, and the director himself said the contents of the briefcase are whatever you want them to be. From what I understand, there's no specific act involving a weather vane that Eakin had in mind; you're supposed to use your imagination.
2184207 Actually, there is a specific act that is tied with the weather vane in his story. It's just that he always pulls the cockblock on us when were about to find out how it works. It's one of those things.
I too saw this particular movie just last night. While the action was outstanding and the concept was well explored, the movie-going experience was nearly ruined by the popcorn guzzling ambulatory landmass in the seat next to me. I think it was one of those "broonies" I heard about on Dateline NBC. Nary ten minutes could go by without a booming chuckle and some reference to an obscure horseword fanfiction on some interwebsite where these "broonies" congregate to express their vivid desires to repeatedly copulate with flying blue horses.
"That didn't work!"
Just kidding. We didn't have any popcorn.
And Eakin is a reasonably attractive and socioeconomically viable representative of the hooman species.
The opening scene with Tom Cruise and the General was a little bit irksome. Tom Cruise was a media relations officer, and he was given a task to film the opening day of the beach landings. If he was shooting for being a coward and a bit of a weasel, he certainly plays it to the hilt. Not a fault with Mr Cruise there, but the scene just seemed a little contrived in that someone would get to the rank of Major with such a deep rooted aversion to being placed in or near a combat situation.
However, this makes his just desserts a bit more satisfying when he's dumped into the rank and file of the first wave.
I should mention that the scenery porn is amazing at this point, with the Charge of the Quadrotor Brigade, and the mountain-sized landing craft off in the distance. The combat suits are pretty cool too - even if everybody looks like a waddling case of trisomy when they're trying to march in formation. Once they get into the action though, they're more like ninja space marines with enough firepower to make Jesse Ventura blush.
Btw. Where were the tanks? This is an invasion, right? I thought there'd be tanks. Or at the very least, some sort of naval bombardment or close air support that doesn't consist entirely of exploding helicopters.
The rest of the movie keeps up a good pace, with a few good scenes based on the limited omniscience of Cruise's character. The boy-meets-girl motif doesn't get mired down in romance, but at the same time, shows that it couldn't really happen outside of their doomed timelines. And that's kind of sad.
The Mimics were quite a bit like cyborg zerg, and ridiculously fast. Very interesting creature design, but most of the time they look like some sort of flying squid stuck in fast-forward.
Overall, p good movie.
The first time I saw the commercial I freaked and was like, "They ripped off hard Reset!"
Idk, didn't know Hollywood read fanfics.
Twist Emily blunt is actually twi not Luna and Tom cruise is flash sentry and the movie is set after the invasion and twilight successfully escapes the loops with out the shiny wall of death wiping them out
This way twilight keeps home run cause that's how it should be!
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I have something to admit. I don't watch movies a lot.
Hard Reset, and the blog post Eakin made a few months ago about Edge are probably the only reasons why I want to see it.
Now I just have to see this movie.
[laughing externally]
Wait, what movie?
Wait, what?
Wait...
This is the best blog post I've ever seen. And now I want to go see that movie. You can bet I'll be thinking of you.
I wish there was a button to let me like a blog post. To good.
Awesome movie! But I do think it could have used Tom Cruise being a lesbian.
And I totally didn't recognize Home Run, that's a great performance. I totally believed he was a giant sword thingy.
Overall, it was a ton of fun, I loved Twilight Cruise, the action was badass, the loops were hilariously dark, Princess Emily Blunt was awesome, the magical mechsuits were awesome. Took a couple liberties but was one of the greatest times at the movies this year.
Now we can wait for the sequel/spin off with the darkest timeline where Cruise becomes the Omega Cruise. Which will include a young Albus Dumbledore and Doctor Who, not too sure how they will make it work but I have faith.
(Obligatory "I always thought the choice to make Jonah Yu a purple unicorn was a ballsy move" comment that only Eakin will understand.)
The only reason I want to go see Edge of Tomorrow is because of how much i LOVED Hard Reset. The first time i saw the trailer i s was ecstatic because i knew if it was anything like Hard Reset it would be amazing. So pumped!
We both know the MPAA would've never given it a PG-13 rating if they left in the weather vane scene. It's sad, but it was inevitable.
Okay, this was hilarious to read
Now I just have to watch the movei itself.
Weather Vane aside, Tom Cruise and Luna aren't supposed to end up together anyway. That's what the sequel is for, when they introduce Azalea.
The part of Algae Bloom will be played by Kristen Stewart.
I was wondering if you would see as many similarities as I did, and I've only seen the trailer. And that comment sbout the weather vane...
Yes.