Tomorrowland is a movie that attempts to give us a glimpse
into our world’s potential future. My
initial problem with the film is that it doesn’t look like a future I would
want to live in at all. Everything looks
fast, hectic, and confusing. I guess it’s
a matter of personal preference, but the vision of the future that Tomorrowland
provides does not appeal to me. I think
that fact inhibited my enjoyment of the film quite a bit.
This
movie focuses on two main characters.
Frank Walker (George Clooney) is a grumpy old man who has been to
Tomorrowland. Due to events that occurred
there, he has become very disillusioned by the experience. On the other hand, Casey Newton (Britt
Robertson) is an adventurous young girl who has had only a glimpse of
Tomorrowland and wants to go there more than anything. With the help of the mysterious Athena
(Raffey Cassidy), Casey seeks out Frank in an attempt to fulfill her ambition
and wild imagination.
This
story is ambitious but has some pretty serious flaws that hamper its progress. The biggest problem I had with the narrative
is that I couldn’t get a grip on where it was going. I didn’t understand any of the characters
motivations and I didn’t really think that they did either. They didn’t seem to have any long term
goals. The story unfolds like a story a
kid is telling, making up the details as they go. Halfway through the film I had completely
lost interest because I didn’t understand what anybody was trying to
accomplish. The character of Frank, I
really liked. I did not like the
character of Casey, which is the main protagonist. That is a problem. She is one of those characters that knows
everything, can do anything, and never makes any mistakes. The general rules of physics and society do
not apply to her. That is lazy writing,
allowing a character to ignore realistic limitations in order to do whatever
they need to do to move the narrative forward.
I was very disappointed in the villain, played by Hugh Laurie. He isn’t in the movie much until late, and
when he shows up, he is generic and stiff.
What
really works in the movie to me is the kookiness and craziness of some of the characters
and situations. The film definitely had
a bit of an identity crises, going back and forth too much between the serious
and the surreal. I feel like the latter
is where it should have stayed for the most part.
The
acting in this film is good and is mostly what makes the whole thing
watchable. This is a different type of
role for George Clooney and he didn’t give the phoned in performance that I was
expecting. The star of this show is
Britt Robertson. I liked her performance
a lot, even though she was playing a character I pretty much hated. The movie also has a rare good child performance
by Raffey Cassidy.
As
expected, this movie is filled to the brim with unnecessary and overblown
CGI. What it lacks in substance, it
tries to make up for with effects. This never works. Special effects are like a paint job on a car
or decorations on a Christmas tree. They
can enhance the substance, but they cannot be the substance.
There
was a story to be told here with a decent message to it. Unfortunately, the way this was written comes
off as pretentious and elitist. I feel
like the filmmakers are telling us that only the people on their level deserve
to live and the rest of the humanoids are just bogging them down. In the middle of all this, there is a
monologue that Hugh Laurie delivers toward the end that is brilliant and
meaningful. The problem is that by this
point, I just didn’t care anymore.
Tomorrowland is watchable, but nowhere near what it should have
been. The Movie Man gives it 2.5 out of
5 stars.
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