Explain two ways the characters and/or events fit the action adventure genre.

The film 'The Edge of Tomorrow' has a number of different conventions that link it to the action adventure genre. There is a clear protagonist from the first scene of the film, William Cage, we know that he is the main character as he is the only character that remains while others appear and disappear in different scenes. This informs the audience that the main focus will be on him and that they will be watching his story evolve. The protagonist holds a formal approach at first as we understand that he had a high position in the army, when he loses his position and is sent to fight we see that he is still in the mind-set of someone in a higher role, he likes to be in control and this is clear from the beginning. In action adventure films the protagonist usually loses something or faces a problem that results in them having to change, in this film it is when William Cage is stripped of his high position and he is forced to adjust to having somebody else tell him what to do. Also, it is common for the protagonist to gain a sense of control and take situations into their own hands. However, in this film it is slightly different, at first we see the protagonist have a loss of control but this changes and he has to take control again to stop himself from reliving the same day repeatedly.


The action sequence is a key part of the film and shows a number of the main conventions that follow through nearly every action adventure film. For an action sequence it is important to create a sense of tension for the audience that will draw them into the scene. There are a number of key features of an action sequence that make it possible to achieve this feeling of tension. At the beginning of the sequence there is silence while the action is beginning to happen in the helicopter, this is done to create the initial build-up in tension as the audience watches the drama unfold but is still unsure of what is going to happen. The use of silence is effective as the audience relies on music and sound to predict what is going to happen, however silence takes this sense away and they don't know what will happen next. As soon as the protagonist hits the ground the sound comes back and it is overwhelming and creates more of an impact on the audience due to the loss of sound before. Different sound effects are used to create a successful action sequence, such as explosions, gunshots etc. The sounds and special effects are positioned close and far away to the camera so that the audience can understand the extent of the action. Every action sequence that involves a large number of people results in a number of deaths, in this particular sequence the camera pans around so that we witness a lot of these deaths. However there isn't a point when the audience feel bad about the death and it doesn't affect them as there are no ties, even if they have been introduced to him.