Love is in the air at Fanboy Comics! In this magical month of romance and enchantment, the FBC Staff and Contributors decided to take a moment to stop and smell the roses. In the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, a few members of the Fanboy Comics crew will be sharing their very personal “Love Letters” with our readers, addressed to the ones that they adore the most.

My beloved Edge of Tomorrow,

Even though your creators later changed your name to Live. Die. Repeat., I will always think of you as the name you had when we first met.  You reassured me that American movie studios were still capable of producing science fiction films that had tight, concise stories that ended instead of continually providing sequel bait.  I realize you were based on a novel, which helps keep the plot under control, but you take the words from the page and make them live.

I’m not sure who to thank for the wonderful character of Rita, the Angel of Verdun and undoubted hero of the United Defense Force, but what an awesomely strong female character! Emily Blunt plays Rita as a tough, focused soldier who has both the strength and intelligence to teach and hone Tom Cruise’s cowardly Cage.  She is the one person in Cage’s world who understands what is happening to him, and she has the respect of all of the UDF for her battlefield skills (even if her other nickname is a little sexist). Rita is not just window dressing or a romantic entanglement; she is a character with agency and purpose.  Hopefully, your example will provide enticement to other films (even genre films!) to create their own Ritas.

And, how can I thank you for showing me that Tom Cruise hasn’t lost the talent that made him a phenom in the ’80s? For the first time in years, I’ve seen the actor shine in a character viewers initially struggle to like because of his cowardice and force us to grudgingly acknowledge that Cage isn’t entirely worthless.  Heck, by the end of his arc, Cage may become a hero!

Finally, your blend of alien menace and military movie is just plain fun. The pacing is nearly perfect, the aliens manage to be creepy and strange without utilizing the uncanny valley, and the military angle seems realistic for an Earth facing outside danger.  I can’t think of a moment I didn’t stay focused and engaged (which is quite a feat these days, unfortunately).  While there will never be another you, Edge of Tomorrow, I hope to see your offspring in movie theaters in the coming years.

Faithfully yours,
Jodi