'Tomorrowland' Review

Tomorrowland review:

Bird Does It Again

BY IAN TAN

China's got the best poster

12 years ago, Disney released a film based on one of its iconic rides from Disneyland in the form of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which moved on to be one of Disney’s biggest franchises. Despite a fifth installment currently in the works, I think we can all agree that the Pirates craze has muddled down quite a bit. Never fear, Disney’s got loads of other rides they can turn into films, and this year it’s Tomorrowland, based on the Disneyland ride of the same name. Also, Brad Bird of Ratatouille, The Incredibles and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol fame sits in the director’s chair for this one. Can Disney pull off the same trick they did with Pirates back in 2003?

Yeah, sure. Mostly. In Tomorrowland, the world is slowly tearing itself apart, with riots, wars and natural disasters occurring as a result of humanity’s flaws – basically… Todayland. The film centers on Casey (Britt Robertson), a teenager with big dreams and hope for a better future. After getting bailed from breaking into a NASA facility, she finds a strange gold pin with a blue ‘T’ on it, and whenever she touches it, she’s transported to a world of jetpacks, futuristic buildings and imagination. However, only she can see this world when touching the pin. Determined to find out what that world is and why it called out to her, Casey, with the help of a young girl named Athena (Raffey Cassidy), seek Frank Walker (George Clooney), who’s had a rough history with said world. Together, the three of them unravel the mysteries behind Tomorrowland and how it’s affecting our world today.

 

Not 'The Lovely Bones'

So far, Brad Bird has failed to make a bad film, and he did a pretty great job with this one, further securing himself as one of the better live-action film directors out there today, ala J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Super 8), who also hasn’t made a bad film to date. The visuals of this movie, along with its production design, are a joy to look at. Casey’s - and the audience's - first glimpse at Tomorrowland’s world is a visual joy; a real feast for the eyes, even if the CGI isn’t quite on-point at several times.  

Exhibit T: A good child actor

As far as performances go, Britt Robertson plays a likable and sometimes funny lead that, by the end of the film, would probably leave you inspired by the character. George Clooney is commendable in his role as well and adds gravitas to his character, showcasing a once hopeful, but now pained version of what Britt Robertson’s character would have been had she given up on hope. But the scene-stealer here really is Raffey Cassidy, who plays Athena. The British youngster soars in her role here, portraying the film’s arguably most complex and likable character. What a great performance she gave; I’m excited to see her in more films to come. Unfortunately, Hugh Laurie is only serviceable as Governor Nix, the film’s antagonist. But most of the issues of his character come more from the script by Damon Lindelof more than actor Hugh Laurie.

Wrinkles

This brings me to some of the flaws of the film. As visually engrossing and as captivating as the film gets, the “big reveal” at the end of the movie really doesn’t live up to all the mystery that surrounded the first three quarters of runtime, and is quite a letdown. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that it feels all too similar to other films’ plots (Kingsman: The Secret Service and Avengers: Age of Ultron) and I’m a little tired of it. I guess Hollywood screenwriters all coincidentally had an epiphany one morning that [SPOILERS START HERE] we are the cause of our own destruction and the only way to make things right is to eradicate the human race for good because all we do to the world is destroy it. [SPOILERS END HERE]

D:

Nevertheless, Tomorrowland is able to capture the essence of Disney magic and wonder with charm and a big dose of imagination. Flaws aside, I believe we as an audience deserve more original films like this. Okay, it’s based on a ride at Disneyland, but only very loosely. 

On a side note, that “Keep Moving Forward” quote from Meet the Robinsons kept coming to mind as I was watching this movie, and made me feel pretty nostalgic as the former was one of the Disney films that I connected to the most emotionally, and Tomorrowland reminded me of that same optimistic message and magic from Meet the Robinsons, making this Brad Bird film one of my favourites of this summer movie season.

Final Verdict

Tomorrowland gets 8 out of 10 stars – I want Brad Bird to take me there.
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Tomorrowland opens Thursday, 21st May in cinemas, IMAX 2D and Dolby Atmos.