Tomorrowland - Review

"You wanted to see Tomorrowland..."

Well.....here it comes....eventually...maybe....now.....or.....now....orrrrr.......NOW......okay now...

The Plot

When young dreamer and genius Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) gets hold of a mysterious pin, she glimpses a world beyond her imagination. A world where nothing is impossible. But when the visions of this world end, she seeks answers that leads her to cross paths with a mysterious girl, Athena (Raffey Cassidy). It is from there that the duo must join forces and find a man who came from that wondrous place. That man is Frank Walker (George Clooney), and he can take them to... Tomorrowland.

Review

The name Brad Bird is completely unknown to the general movie going audience. But to the filmmaking world, the name means perfection. A name that has The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol under his resume. Movies that are universally acclaimed and beloved by millions. He is also responsible for some of the greatest Simpsons episodes in the late 80s and early 90s. So it should come no surprise that expectations for his next film are extraordinarily high amongst the film lover community. But alas, not everyone is perfect. And this film shows even Brad Bird is not perfection.

Tomorrowland has a beautiful message. Optimism can lead to a brighter future and imagination can create wonderful things. It is a nice counter to the extreme amount of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic media that the audience is subjected to recently. We embrace the apocalyptic world as the future we are going to have instead of the bright future that people in the 60s used to dream of. And while that message is beautiful and very much needed for this generation, it comes off extremely heavy handed. There is not subtlety about this message, which comes as a surprise to many as Bird's films usually exhibits great subtext. Unfortunately, subtlety isn't the only thing missing from this film, but the weaving of a cohesive story also appears to be gone.

This seems to stem mostly from clashing ideologies between Bird and his co-writer of the film, Damon Lindelof. Whereas Bird is someone who loves to exhibit wonder, Lindelof is someone who likes to exhibit mystery. A habit that can be drawn from his involvement with the show LOST which required nothing but mystery and intrigue. It is where these two writing styles clash heavily, so much so that it is pretty obvious that two completely different movies could've been made. There is Bird's movie, which revolves around Clooney's character Frank as a child (Thomas Robinson) being accepted into Tomorrowland and his relationship with Athena. Then there is Lindelof's movie, which revolves around Casey discovering Tomorrowland exists and seeking out Frank in order to go there. It was a valiant effort by Bird to try and combine both of these films into one, but it just doesn't work. Which is a shame because the acting talent involved is wonderful.

Britt Robertson is a name that will probably be popping up a lot in the future. Her performance as Casey Newton is very much about a teenager who hasn't lost sight of what wonder is suppose to be. And it is refreshing seeing a teenage character who thinks about saving the wonders of science instead of succumbing to the problems of the world. It helps that she is so magnetic, as it takes a while before the film reaches George Clooney as the old and bitter Frank Walker. He is definitely embracing his age, as well as showcasing someone who has lost that spark of wonder, yet still holds on to a little bit of hope. But probably the biggest revelation of the film is Raffey Cassidy as Athena, who is the very definition of wonder and hope. She will be the one people remember from this film, for several reasons. Though one may be the wrong one, but that is a fault to the Lindelof side of the film's story.

What does come off as a prominent weakness no matter who it gets spun by is the villain of the film. Hugh Laurie plays David Nix, one of the leaders of Tomorrowland. While his performance as a cliche villain is very admirable while at the same time oddly not being too cliche, it doesn't prevent the fact that neither him nor his Secret Service of robot warriors presented a real conflict. Yes, they are robots that help sprinkle the film with great action scenes, mainly another area that Cassidy's Athena will shine, but their conflict with the protagonists never felt solid or had too much weight. And when that conflict is revealed, it is revealed so late that any weight that could've been built upon it is completely wasted.

Final Thoughts

Despite the numerous problems with the screenplay and plot, no one can deny that Bird is definitely a top tier director. It is a shame that this project will go down in history as "the film Brad Bird made instead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens," because he now finally has what can be considered a terrible film under his belt. I don't believe the film is terrible. Odd to say the least. Mainly because I do believe that there are two films fighting to be one. But in the end, the one we got was not the one that lives up to the Brad Bird name. A commendable effort to be different and original. Yes I know this movie is a reference to a Disney Theme Park, but it is still an original film. If only it were as good as many of us hoped.

SCORE: 6/10 - It is watchable, but you'll be begging for one part of the movie to be the entire movie, and not the rest of the movie.