Tomorrowland (2015)

Review Project T

When director and writer Brad Bird attaches himself to a project, there is enough reason to take notice and anticipate the end result. He directed movies like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, but was also responsible for the exciting Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Tomorrowland is his newest “live action” movie. Is the end result worth watching?

Review Project T

The film opens with Frank Walker (George Clooney), who seems to directly address the audience as you see a nixie clock counting down. He is constantly interrupted by someone off screen, making the movie pause several times. It’s an opening which immediately gets on your nerves. As a viewer you have no idea what the movie is about and when you are getting that info it’s annoying not to hear it.

Eventually the story takes off though and it becomes clear that when Frank was young he discovered a futuristic world while visiting the world exposition in the sixties. The character who keeps interrupting is Casey Newton (Britt Robertson), a young woman who dares to think differently and ask the difficult questions no one else will. She wants to sabotage the demolition of Cape Canaveral and is noticed by the young Athena (Raffey Cassidy) who makes arrangements for her to see that same futuristic world as well. The way that is realised is very funny. Casey becomes obsessed by what she’s seen and want to find out how to actually get there. It’s the start of a long and action filled search.

Review Tomorrowland Project T

Visually the movie is a joy to the eye as the effects are great, especially the futuristic city is beautifully realised. It’s a vision as you would imagine it yourself and you are wowed as much as the main characters are. Unfortunately the story doesn’t succeed in matching the visuals, which is disappointing. The cast of the movie is stellar. George Clooney gives a solid performance as the inaccessible Frank, which is also the case for Britt Robertson who also gives the character some funny moments. But it is the young Raffey Cassidy who impresses most. She comes across as someone who’s very sure about herself, but can also be threatening presence, despite her small posture.

Tomorrowland Review

Except some moments which could shock very young viewers (please read up on these if you do plan to bring them), Tomorrowland really is a family film which tries to stimulate the viewers to dream and make clear that anyone could make a difference. It is a message which regularly is pointed out a bit too much and at times feels preachy. The end result is a movie which doesn’t feel it’s in balance. It starts in a frustrating way, picks up steam, but loses speed along the way. The mystery of the film is interesting and slowly builds to something which it doesn’t seem to deliver when the main characters eventually reach their destination. The ending feels like a let down. Tomorrowland is like the attractions at Disneyland: A fun ride, but in the end you get nowhere.

6 thoughts on “Tomorrowland (2015)

  1. Nice to see Hugh Laurie doing some post-House work.

    Shame this one isn’t that great – I really admire Brad Bird’s career thus far and to see him stumble now is disappointing.

    • Yeah, there are things that don’t make sense. Like how they have to travel to a different dimension, but this isn’t the case during the world fair (if it is a commercial then why is the kid’s hoverboard fixed and can he actually fly it?

      Raffey Cassidy could play a terminator and I’d believe it 🙂

  2. This movie is good, stop going into movies to hate them. You said great acting and effects…thats a lot more then most films give you.

    • Well, I still gave it a positive grade, but overall I found it disappointing with way too much that simply didn’t make very much sense. For example the killer robots, who were there to obliterate them, but when they finally reach Tomorrowland he is allowed to talk?

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