Disney's conspicuously insistent ad campaign – more, more, MORE! – suggested a lack of confidence in their product, and while it hasn't sunk like John Carter, the relative failure of Brad Bird's latest is another nail in the coffin of original action-adventure movie-making, already incinerating plans for Tron 3, and likely setting the company's focus solely on stuff with "Star Wars" in the title for years to come.
This is a pity because, while not flawless, there is so much to enjoy in this intelligent, exuberant sci-fi epic, written by Bird and Damon "Lost" Lindelof. It's certainly a darn sight more interesting than that bloated Avengers behemoth in the next auditorium. Perhaps its sequel-less fate will see it claim cult status in years to come.
The luminous Britt Robertson gets the insta-star treatment, playing Casey Newton, a bright young optimist who stumbles upon a pin badge which gives her a preview of a parallel world. That world is Tomorrowland, a place where the greatest minds – scientists, inventors, artists – have created a utopian metropolis. (Old Walt himself was one such mind; overtones of fascism are skilfully evaded here.) Casey tracks down Frank Walker (George Clooney), an ex-denizen of Tomorrowland, now jaded and cynical. Together they are chased by a group of creepy robot agents (think Agent Smith with a rictus grin) into the threatened utopia, and into Frank's sorrowful past. Hope and optimism are all that can save the world.
This is a big, passionate movie, full of energy and earnestness, and never self-mocking. I thoroughly enjoyed its 80s-influenced sense of adventure. Indeed, Bird's direction is reminiscent of a youthful Spielberg, combining simplicity with thrilling flashes of virtuosity. The attack on Frank's booby-trapped house is a dizzyingly inventive sequence on multiple levels.
Tomorrowland is morally upright, although perhaps its heavy central message is a hard sell for youngsters. It's basically a cautionary tale about media responsibility in influencing public consciousness. Hugh Laurie gets a dramatic final speech which is laughably preachy, but the guy has a point; and it puts his character, and the whole concept of Tomorrowland, into an ethical grey area. A two-hour-plus Disney sci-fi movie where the bad guy is the misappropriation of laudable ambitions? Quite a challenge for the marketing guys.
Offsetting this philosophical weightiness is a determined focus on awe-inspiring wonder. Yet Spielberg managed this in a single shot of a lagoon in Jurassic Park, so, without wishing to sound ungrateful, do we really need scene after scene of whooshing, swooping, and whizzing around this exquisite CGI cityscape? Perhaps Disney could have halved the budget – and thus their imminent losses – and focused instead on the ideas and moral quandaries of the narrative. Plot-wise it's exposition-heavy, but this is made up for with bags of visual invention and some engaging characters.
In particular there is a lovely niece-and-uncle chemistry between the adorable Casey and the grizzled Frank. Less well sketched are the relationships between Casey and her father (Tim McGraw), and Walker and his childhood sweetheart, Athena (Raffey Cassidy). But Tomorrowland is all about the central odd couple, and their encounters with Laurie's misguided David Nix. This is where the beating heart of this appealingly imperfect and delightfully ambitious movie can be found: in those who look upon Tomorrowland with very different eyes.
This is a pity because, while not flawless, there is so much to enjoy in this intelligent, exuberant sci-fi epic, written by Bird and Damon "Lost" Lindelof. It's certainly a darn sight more interesting than that bloated Avengers behemoth in the next auditorium. Perhaps its sequel-less fate will see it claim cult status in years to come.
The luminous Britt Robertson gets the insta-star treatment, playing Casey Newton, a bright young optimist who stumbles upon a pin badge which gives her a preview of a parallel world. That world is Tomorrowland, a place where the greatest minds – scientists, inventors, artists – have created a utopian metropolis. (Old Walt himself was one such mind; overtones of fascism are skilfully evaded here.) Casey tracks down Frank Walker (George Clooney), an ex-denizen of Tomorrowland, now jaded and cynical. Together they are chased by a group of creepy robot agents (think Agent Smith with a rictus grin) into the threatened utopia, and into Frank's sorrowful past. Hope and optimism are all that can save the world.
This is a big, passionate movie, full of energy and earnestness, and never self-mocking. I thoroughly enjoyed its 80s-influenced sense of adventure. Indeed, Bird's direction is reminiscent of a youthful Spielberg, combining simplicity with thrilling flashes of virtuosity. The attack on Frank's booby-trapped house is a dizzyingly inventive sequence on multiple levels.
Tomorrowland is morally upright, although perhaps its heavy central message is a hard sell for youngsters. It's basically a cautionary tale about media responsibility in influencing public consciousness. Hugh Laurie gets a dramatic final speech which is laughably preachy, but the guy has a point; and it puts his character, and the whole concept of Tomorrowland, into an ethical grey area. A two-hour-plus Disney sci-fi movie where the bad guy is the misappropriation of laudable ambitions? Quite a challenge for the marketing guys.
Offsetting this philosophical weightiness is a determined focus on awe-inspiring wonder. Yet Spielberg managed this in a single shot of a lagoon in Jurassic Park, so, without wishing to sound ungrateful, do we really need scene after scene of whooshing, swooping, and whizzing around this exquisite CGI cityscape? Perhaps Disney could have halved the budget – and thus their imminent losses – and focused instead on the ideas and moral quandaries of the narrative. Plot-wise it's exposition-heavy, but this is made up for with bags of visual invention and some engaging characters.
In particular there is a lovely niece-and-uncle chemistry between the adorable Casey and the grizzled Frank. Less well sketched are the relationships between Casey and her father (Tim McGraw), and Walker and his childhood sweetheart, Athena (Raffey Cassidy). But Tomorrowland is all about the central odd couple, and their encounters with Laurie's misguided David Nix. This is where the beating heart of this appealingly imperfect and delightfully ambitious movie can be found: in those who look upon Tomorrowland with very different eyes.