[Movie Review] Tomorrowland (2015)

Posted on May 22, 2015 by thegrandshuckett in Movie Reviews // 0 Comments

Director: Brad Bird

Writers: Brad Bird, Damon Lindeolf, Jeff Jenson

Runtime:

Main Cast:

George Clooney as Frank Walker
Britt Robertson as Casey Newton
Kathryn Hahn as Ursula
Judy Greer as Mom
Hugh Laurie as David Nix
Keegan-Michael Key as Hugo

Guest Review: by Erika T

Upon seeing the trailer I had no idea what this would be about. I’ve never been to a Disneyworld or Disneyland theme park (yes, tragic) so I didn’t even know it was named after that section of the park until one of the attorneys I work for filled me in while we were chatting about it. Even still, the Disney name alone sold me on giving this one a shot--and that I did.

A middle-aged prodigy (played by George Clooney) reluctantly teams up with a teen genius (played by Britt Robertson) on a dangerous adventure facing threats, both human and not, to unlock the mysteries of “Tomorrowland,” a futuristic and highly technologically developed location that transcends time and space.

What I Liked:

The snazzy opening is really impressive. They re-created the Disney castle logo to look like Tomorrowland. I’ve never wanted to see the Disney castle in person more until that moment.

The story itself is somewhat original. I don’t think we’ll see very many films with this type of feel to it this year. Films series like Divergent or Maze Runner can immediately trigger Hunger Games feels, with good reason, but it’s hard to peg this one. Sure, it had big robots, like Transformers, but it was an element that wasn’t used too often.

The scenes and visuals present very well on the big screen. It was shot very nicely. The effects were well done too.

The action scenes are loud and bright. One scene in particular amused me quite a bit because it felt like a futuristic Home Alone movie on steroids. It honestly made me hope that if it gets a reboot it would be more like that.

I really enjoyed the scenes in Tomorrowland. You could tell that a lot of conceptualizing went into it and it felt really imaginative. The big screen really enhanced the impact of those scenes.

What I Didn’t Like:

I didn’t always enjoy the banter between Clooney and Robertson’s characters. It came off as more obnoxious than funny. I felt this way off the bat and then with time I settled in to their situation.

The effects were nice but it didn’t feel like next level filmmaking that it probably would have achieved with more scenes actually taking place in Tomorrowland.

Though I understand that to do that would have increased its budget significantly. I actually think the $190 million is a little high for what we actually got. Where did the money go unless it was to pay Clooney about a quarter of it?

Clooney star power didn’t add much. It would have been the same without him. Maybe Disney used him as a selling point because the budge is so big?

This felt like a risky film for Disney. It was hard to peg the actual audience. Some themes were a little heavy and it lacks the crossover appeal that we’ve come to expect from disney/pixar effort or a Pirates of the Carribean effort.

Summary

Sometimes it’s good to go into a film with a blank slate, but that doesn’t always guarantee a great final product. Tomorrowland had all the tools to make this film something special, but it doesn’t use them to their full potential. That said, I wasn’t bored and wanted to see where the story would go. It left room for a sequel if successful, but I feel like the box office is a little crowded with other options to give it long enough legs.

Sending