An army PR spin doctor responsible for putting a good face on a losing war against aliens in Europe suddenly finds himself thrown into the front line and dies horribly, only to wake up and start the whole day again. Every time he tries to change events he ends up dead and starting the fight again. A meeting on the battlefield with a poster-girl hero leads to a desperate plan to end not only the day, but the whole war.

GROUNDHOG DAY meets INDEPENDENCE DAY with a bit of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN thrown in. That's the short version of this Tom Cruise vehicle that throws more action and destruction at the screen than anything else by dint of doing it over and over again. The effects can be used time and time again in the running time and so they can afford be spectacular, which they most certainly are. From the airborne destruction of the assault helicopter to the chaos of the beachhead assault, to the aliens themselves, which are whirls of flailing activity, the special effects are flawless, but flawless effects don't cut it these days.

So to the plot, which is absolutely bonkers and makes no sense whatsoever. That's OK because making sense was never what this film was about. This was about the crash and bang of alien invasion and the chance to see Tom Cruise killed over and over again. The explanation for why Cage is reliving his day over and over is quite ridiculous and never believable for a second, but then nothing that takes place of the beach assault is.

Tom Cruise has fun playing the hero who is reluctant to get involved at all let alone be the hero and his constant dying allows for some funny moments as well, but the standout here is Emily Blunt as the war hero made weary by constant battle and her own past mistake. The romance between them is at least not overplayed and overstressed in the storyline. Bill Paxton plays Bill Paxton, and does it very well, but the supporting cast get very little to do.

The plot throws in a couple of surprises, but outstays its welcome before the running time is over. The final assault on the alien supermind (yes, that's taken directly from STARSHIP TROOPERS' brain bug) is a whole step too far, leaving the audience with a feeling of 'enough already'.

You can't fault the action or the effects and the two main stars are fine in their central roles, but the seemingly endless repetitions and the ridiculousness of the plot undermine the whole thing, making it little more than expensive effects showreel. It should have been so much more.