A Dreamer's Reality

Tomorrowland

To be completely honest, there is no real way that I can tell you what this movie is about without giving most of the plot away in the synopsis alone. I hate doing that to people and so I will not start now. I can tell you that the film stars George Clooney (Gravity) as a grumpy inventor, Frank Walker that has been kicked out of the utopian dimension dubbed Tomorrowland. The reason for his exile is a major plot point and so is the reason why he teams up with a young girl genius Casey Newton (Britt Robertson The Longest Ride) to get back into Tomorrowland.

The Good: The film is very visually stunning. Director Brad Bird (The Incredables) does an amazing job creating a world that is very sleek and very contemporary. Bird also separates both worlds very well by using more earthy tones when they are on ‘earth’ and sticks to almost all white and chrome color palate when they are in Tomorrowland. The movie’s message is an inspiring one as well. The film asks it’s audience to never stop dreaming of something better, because if you do our/your world will become a dark one.  I know this is weird to say as well, but the fun factor of the film is also a high positive. The action and humor of the film do give the movie a light-hearted feel and proves that Tomorrowland never takes itself too seriously.

The Bad: Because the film doesn’t take itself too seriously, Tomorrowland asks you not to take it seriously either. The filmmakers take so much time to give the audience a glossy look to the film that parts of the plot take a major hit. The film doesn’t explain (fully) why Frank was kicked out of Tomorrowland or even gives a time frame to put in perspective. The film also relies heavily on secrecy that some things they could have kept secret weren’t. For example, the film opens with young Frank going to the World’s Fair in 1964 as a young bright-eyed ‘inventor’ and is chosen to enter Tomorrowland. Then later the audience is given the information that Frank has been kicked out for reasons they don’t want to explain. I thought it would have been better for the film if we didn’t know that the boy in the beginning was Frank and you slowly learn that it was him and why he was kicked out. My reason is that once you know that it is Clooney’s younger self, all mystery on why he is back on ‘earth’ is gone.  

The acting in this one is very linear as well. The cast go through the motions of each one of their stereotypical characters. The grumpy pessimist scorned by past wrongs and the opposite optimist team up to stop something bad while a cast of characters around them try to either help or stop them. Robertson is definitely tries hard to make this character her own and I applaud her for that, but it wasn’t enough to separate herself from the mediocrity that this film is laced with. Another thing I was really upset with is the lack of screen time Hugh Laurie (House) has. Laurie plays David Nix, the ‘governor’ of Tomorrowland and consequentially the ‘villain’ of the film. The film never sets him up as a threat. Laurie is the bad guy because he is the guy who kicked Frank out of Tomorrowland and that’s about it.

Finally: The film asks it’s audience to suspend reality for 130 minutes, but at times Tomorrowland suspends its own reality to mold its own story. Visually appealing as this film may be, it wasn’t enough to mask the deep plot holes and average acting by above average actors. This will essentially be a bump in the road for Brad Bird who is an exceptional director. Hopefully he will find his mojo with his next film.  But if there is anything really positive that we all can take away from the film is it’s message: Never stop dreaming!

The Verdict: Wait for Blu-Ray