Cert 12A
113 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat, infrequent strong language
Critics can say whatever they like, the fact is that Tom Cruise has been the most consistently popular action hero among cinema audiences for nearly three decades.
And, unlike peers such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Steven Seagal and Vin Diesel, he has managed to defy age and not become a mockery of his former self.
Of course, it helps that his latest film, Doug Liman's Edge Of Tomorrow is, with the exception of a couple of glaring holes, such a well-designed thriller.
The movie begins with a military spin doctor (Cruise) being sent, against his will, to the frontline to join allied forces against alien invaders who have taken over Europe.
However, the operation is a wipe-out and Cruise's character is among the many who is killed.
Or is he? Suddenly, he finds himself in his own Groundhog Day and becoming the key to saving the planet.
I know, I know: I can sense yawning at the mere thought of Cruise saving mother earth yet again, especially when I add that he is accompanied by a rather attractive young woman (Emily Blunt) half his age.
Blunt plays the Allies' most famous soldier who is persuaded that Cruise can see into the future and joins his bid to thwart the aliens.
The story is fast-flowing and Cruise and Blunt have a chemistry which is engaging and believable.
Ok, don't ask me how his character isn't recognised as a TV celebrity or anything about the very final sequence of the movie but those elements apart, Edge Of Tomorrow is a cracking thrill ride which was particularly effective in Imax.
Laughs: none
Jumps: one
Vomit: none
Nudity: a flash of a bare bum
Overall rating: 8.5/10