I am not a Tom Cruise fan at all, but on a whim I decided to rewatch this movie. I was pleasantly surprised by the rewatch.
I remembered that the movie started with a bang and was doing great until Cruise and Blunt got to the farm house then it stalled.
That was not my experience this time around. This was a really fun movie. The production values were top notch, the action was spectacular and the movie did a really good job of sticking to its logic. I also really loved the mech suits. I list this as the best use of a mech suit in a movie with District 9 and Avatar as a close second and third.
The novel came first, but as far as im aware the manga is a pretty faithful adaptation and was more successful, so I tend to recommend it more.
Sounds good, thanks!