Be it the awful title, the almost now-generic concept, or my general distaste for Doug Liman‘s work, it’s been a bit hard to get on board with All You Need is Kill. What the film lacks in those (nevertheless crucial) departments, however, it’s almost compensating for in a cast which has two enjoyable leads — i.e., Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt — to go along with the promising inclusion of an unknown, Charlotte Riley. We’re on shaky ground, but that’s better than having no ground at all.

Add one more point to its favor when Variety tells us Kill has put Bill Paxton directly in its sights. The man whose status as the icon of James Cameron‘s filmography can only be superseded by a hulking Australian — if you ask me, a strong credential — will be taking a part which fits him almost painfully well: platoon leader.

Liman‘s film, after all, is an adaptation of the Hiroshi Sakurazaka manga — subsequently adapted for American cinema by screenwriters Dante Harper and Jody Harold — wherein a soldier (Cruise) finds themselves constantly regenerating after dying in battle against aliens, a process which allows him to grow into a better fighter. So, here we have Paxton to bring some of his classic routine to what, ostensibly, is a new kind of war film — and I like the proposition. While All You Need Is Kill still has a couple of steps to take before I’m actually “positive,” we might almost be on our way.

Does Paxton lend any credit to Kill?