It would be easy to write off Edge of Tomorrow as just another sci-fi action flick from the couch-hopping Scientologist that the tabloids love to hate. After all, Tom Cruise last starred in the similarly post-apocalyptic Oblivion, and if there’s one thing audiences love more than a crowdpleaser, it’s talking crap about celebrities. However, moviegoers who let themselves get caught up in those trivial concerns are truly doing themselves a disservice, as Edge of Tomorrow defies expectations to become the latest in a long string of solid adventure films led by Cruise.

Cruise stars as Major William Cage, an arrogant military mouthpiece who finds himself thrust into the midst of a pivotal battle against a ravaging legion of alien attackers known as Mimics. These tentacled beasties have been winning a war against humanity, due to their ability to anticipate their enemy’s tactics. The only beacon of hope on the human side of this ongoing struggle is war hero Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt). When Cage finds himself inexplicably reliving the same day again and again, he must team up with Rita to discover the Mimics’ weakness in the hopes of ending the war once and for all.

Thanks to the late Harold Ramis’ brilliant 1993 comedy Groundhog Day, the high-concept premise of Edge of Tomorrow lacks the freshness that would otherwise make director Doug Liman’s (Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Bourne Identity) truly unique, but the film – based on the 2004 Japanese “light novel” All You Need Is Kill – manages to take this idea into new territory and infuse it with just the right amount of self-awareness. Furthermore, it draws clear parallels between its core premise and the experience of playing a video game, giving the whole “reliving the same day” concept a more modern face lift and more than a few well-placed laughs.

Many reviews have also acknowledged Cruise’s against-type performance as a coward who must earn the courage that so many of the actor’s characters (looking at you, Ethan Hunt!) appear to be born with. While this is indeed among the film’s highlights, Blunt is perhaps the breakout star here, in that the actress continues to assert herself as one of the most versatile actresses working today. Between this film and Looper, Blunt is well on her way to becoming a geek favorite. It’s almost enough to make one wish she had played Black Widow in The Avengers films, as she was Marvel’s first choice to play the part before Scarlett Johansson.

While Edge of Tomorrow may not be the next Minority Report (still Cruise’s best and most imaginative sci-fi venture), the film offers a number of fun action beats and a stronger and more character-focused story than moviegoers may expect. The material is certainly elevated by the one-two punch of Cruise and Blunt (with notable assistance from Bill Paxton, who appears to be playing a grown-up riff on his character from John Hughes’ Weird Science). The pieces may not fit together quite as neatly as they could have, but Edge of Tomorrow should easily satisfy genre fanatics craving a futuristic thrill ride this summer, even if its final moments don’t quite live up to the 100+ minutes that precede it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Edge of Tomorrow stars Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson. It is directed by Doug Liman and is now in theaters.