"Come find me when you wake up:" Gender Equality in 'Edge of Tomorrow'

This weekend I saw the Tom Cruise/Emily Blunt sci-fi aciton movie Edge of Tomorrow for the second time. It's one of the most underrated summer blockbusters from 2014. Unfortunately it did not set the US box office on fire (although it did make almost $370 million worldwide) and that was for a few reasons (poor marketing, bad release date, tough competition from Maleficent and The Fault in Our Stars). Edge of Tomorrow is one of the most pleasing, visually gorgeous and thrilling movies to come out. And the cherry on top of the sundae: it very subtly promotes gender equality.

This movie is not the feminist ideal: it fails the Bechdel test and has few women both behind and in front of the cameras. But the relationship between William Cage (Cruise) and Rita Vrataski (Blunt) as well as their roles within the film are a welcome change from the usual macho-driven explosion-fest.

The best part of Tomorrow is how Vrataski and Cage work together. Vrataski's past in the time loop that Cage is now stuck in makes her the dominant one in their relationship at first. She has to train him and he relies on her skills, expertise and knowledge to further their shared goal of saving the world.

It has to be noted that her gender does not play into their dynamic at all. There's no hint that Cage feels weird being in a submissive role to Vrataski. Her past battle victories define her, not her womanhood. Usually in an action movie with a male/female dynamic, the woman is the one who is learning from the (older) male; the woman is reliant on the male. Tomorrow reverses that without making a big deal out of it. And so the film can be seen as majorly progressive.

Well, sort of. Vrstaski goes by two nicknames within the world of Edge of Tomorrow: Angel of Verdun and Full Metal Bitch. Both present her as 2 opposite extremes: the pure, maternal protector and the cold, distant killing machine.

Both names on their own are somewhat problematic. "Angel" and "bitch" are hardly names you would call a male war hero and they are explicitly informed by her being a woman. But the film allows Vrataski to peel back layers and reveal a 3 dimensional woman behind the archetypes of "angel" and "bitch."

Not only that but because this is a major Hollywood blockbuster starring Tom Cruise (which honestly would not have been made without Cruise's name attached), Emily Blunt is in a supporting role. And the film has Cage manipulate certain events when it becomes clear that Vrataski dies in a certain time loop. He does that because he cares for her, yes, but also because he needs her help to complete his mission.

Even so, Vrataski could easily have been just a romantic prize or played by a man with Blunt as some romantic interest. But Edge of Tomorrow is a bit smarter than that. Cage and Vrataski have an equal partnership, where they both offer ideas and make sacrifices. And that is one of the many reasons Edge of Tomorrow is one of the best films of the year.