Review of Tomorrowland (2015) by Reysonpoint — 06 Jun 2015

After films like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, there was no doubt in my mind that Tomorrowland was going to be another great addition to that list, and boy was I wrong. Tomorrowland is a visually beautiful film that addressed some very important issues, however as film, Tomorrowland did not work. It tries extremely hard to sell you the overall message, which quickly becomes tiring.

The movie is based on the popular Disney Theme Land called “Tomorrowland” that opened on July 17, 1955. The film revolves around Frank Walker played by Academy Award Winning Actor George Clooney (Oceans Eleven, Gravity) who plays an inventor that makes it into a land called Tomorrowland. When things go wrong for Frank and the world is about to be destroyed, an android from Tomorrowland called Athena played by Raffey Cassidy (Dark Shadows) comes to our dimension in order to try to find a person who can save the planet. Athena finally finds a gifted child who eventually crosses paths with Clooney’s character and they embark on a journey to save our planet.

Now let’s talk about the movie. Tomorrowland had my interest for the first and second half, after that the movie went downhill very quickly. The third and final act was rushed and sloppy. It simply lost all of my attention and interest. There are some scenes in the movie where you can see Brad Bird’s great talent but there are other scenes where you feel like you are watching a different movie altogether. That feeling is never a good thing, especially for a huge film such as this one.

As for the acting, let’s start with George Clooney who plays Frank Walker, the solitary scientific genius who decades earlier was heartbroken by Athena and banished from Tomorrowland. Clooney is without a doubt a great actor and here there is no exception to that. Then we have Britt Robertson (The Longest Ride) who plays Casey, a bright teenager who does everything in her power to help her family. Britt on the other hand, has some moments where she shines but during other scenes her performance ends up detracting from the movie. Then we have Hugh Laurie (House, Stuart Little) who played the brilliant leader of Tomorrowland, which was a waste of a great talent. Hugh Laurie was simply not used the way an actor like him should be. His character at times came as annoying and sometimes overacted. Overall even with some really great actors thrown into the mix, none of their performances really stood out to me.

In conclusion, Tomorrowland was a film that had my attention only in certain moments and at times, leaving me feeling like I was watching two different movies due the to constant change of tones. The third act of the film felt like everyone in the film did not care for it anymore or even gave up on it. The consistency of the film was all over the place. Sadly, Tomorrowland was a film with beautiful visuals, good acting, great imagination, but horribly executed which led to the downfall of what could’ve been an amazing film.

Final Score: 6.