1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
THE DESIGN SCHOOL
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT
NAME : CHONG YI HUI
STUDENT ID NO : 0324404
GENRE SELECTED : SCIENCE FICTION
FILMS SELECTED : - EDGE OF TOMORROW
- MEN IN BLACK 3
WORD COUNT : 998 WORDS
SUBJECT : ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1 : COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY
LECTURER : GOPIGHANTAN MYLVAGANAM
SUBMISSION DATE : DECEMBER 4TH 2015
2. EDGE OF TOMORROW VS MEN IN BLACK 3
Now in the 21st century, more and more science fiction movies are being released. Since the
1960’s, science fiction movies have succeeded in drawing a lot of audience. What is so great about
science fiction movies? Well, science fiction movies have led society to its technology now. Some
special effects or technology used in science fictions movies are available now in the 21st century.
Science fiction movies usually have imaginative futuristic concepts such as futuristic science and
technology, time travelling and extraterrestrial beings. Science fiction or “Sci-fi” for short explores
the imagination of people to think out of the box but still managing between science based facts and
theory. Based on two science fiction movies that I have chosen, Edge Of Tomorrow and Men In
Black 3, both of these movies has similarities as they are both science fiction movies. So, what are
the similarities between the two science fiction movies?
First, both movies have two main characters, and both of the characters team up with each
other. Although they do not know each other at first, they still trusted each other and made a very
good team to save the Earth. For Edge of Tomorrow, the two main characters are Major William
Cage, a public relations officer with no combat experience and Sergeant Rita Rose Vrataski, a
Special Forces warrior who is very skilled in combat and killing the mimics (a race of bad aliens).
For Men In Black 3, both of the main characters, Agent J and Agent K were already a team in the
beginning of the movie as they have in the previous movies. An old enemy, Boris the Animal
(Boglodite alien race) escaping from prison and went back in time to kill Agent K, allowing the
Boglodites to invade Earth. This forces Agent J to go back in time to save the younger Agent K
from getting killed by Boris the Animal. Because the younger Agent K from the past do not know
3. who Agent J is at that time, both J and K have no choice but to trust each other and team up to save
the Earth.
Secondly, both movies, Edge Of Tomorrow and also Men In Black 3 are mostly about time
travelling back into the past and fix the wrongs did in the past for a brighter future. In Edge of
Tomorrow, despite the fact that Cage was inexperience in combat, he still managed to kill the Alpha
mimic and obtained the Alpha mimic’s power to reset time but died in the process. When Cage
suddenly awaken, he found himself at the Heathrow army base the previous morning. Cage warned
the army that the war will not favour the humans but no one believed him. During the same battle,
Cage located Rita and told her what happened. Rita believed him and told Cage to find her when he
wakes up. Cage trained with Rita to gain experience so that they will have a chance to kill the
“Omega” Mimic, a very powerful being and the brain of the mimics. Killing the Omega will stop
the Alpha mimics from resetting the day and will give the humans favour of win the war. For Men
in Black 3, before going back in time, Agent J wakes up to a very bad headache and craving for
chocolate milk. Agent O, the chief of the Men In Black deduces that there has been a fracture in the
space time continuum. Therefore, Agent J travels back in time to find the younger Agent K and help
Agent K to kill Boris before Boris can undo the past.
Next, both movies have happy ending and also save the Earth from total annihilation. For
Edge of Tomorrow, Cage lost his abilities to reset time due to blood transfusion. Both Cage and Rita
knew that this is their last chance to kill the Omega. After locating the Omega, they dived into their
deaths to kill the Omega. Rita was busy holding off the mimics while Cage destroyed the Omega.
But as Cage destroyed the Omega, he managed to re-inherit the Omega’s power and resetting the
4. time. Cage wakes up to find that the war was still going on but is favouring the humans now. For
Men in Black 3, J managed to find the younger K and worked together. J saved K from being killed
by Boris. Agent K killed Boris to prevent him from going to the past to kill K. Thus, K managed to
deploy the ArcNet, a impenetrable shield that surrounds the Earth. By deploying the ArcNet, K and
J managed to prevent the Boglodites invasion leading to the extinction of the Boglodites race and
the Earth is saved once again.
Furthermore, both movies have a plot twist at the ending. In Edge of Tomorrow, when Cage
wakes up to find that the war with the mimics are favouring the humans, it means that the whole
event was reset and Rita will not know him at all. That made Cage sad to lose the love of his life.
Cage is determined to get to know Rita. He searches for Rita and finds her in the training room. The
movie ended with both of them smiling at each other. For Men In Black 3, the plot twist is that J’s
father was killed by Boris in place of K. The future J was there to witness the whole scene. When a
boy came down of a car and took out a watch that was given by his father, J realised that the boy
was the younger him. It was sad that J’s dad died but hopeful as now J knows why his partner, K is
always grumpy.
In a nutshell, both movies do have similarities and are very nice to watch. Both movies have
the two main characters, time travelling, happy ending and plot twist. Both movies are very exciting
and trust me, you will not lose anything if you watch them.
