Tomorrowland Review

After months of anticipation, I finally got a chance to see Brad Bird's latest project, Tomorrowland. As I mentioned in my review of the teaser trailer, this was one of my most anticipated movies of 2015. I absolutely love Bird as a director, and the film itself looked quite intriguing. I was excited to see what Bird could bring to the table in his second live-action effort, especially with names like George Clooney and Hugh Laurie highlighting the cast list. Unfortunately, the final product was not the movie I was expecting. This is the most disappointing film I've seen all year.

This is a very divisive movie. Some people really enjoyed it, others viewed it as generic Disney fare. I'm inclined to agree with the latter group. All of the imagination and wonder that I saw in the trailers has been replaced in the film itself by cheap laughs and a poorly conceived, even more poorly told story that felt wholly cliched and tired. I was expecting more from the man who brought us such awe-inspiring movies as The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and the fourth Mission: Impossible.

George Clooney has made some poor career moves in the past. The best example of this is 1997's Batman & Robin - my least favorite film of all-time - in which he played the classic comic book hero Batman. That movie was a trainwreck and a half, and I can't imagine that anyone who had read the script ahead of time expected anything different. While the script of Tomorrowland is not on that level of terrible, it contains some of the most uninspired dialogue I've heard all year long. Every character in this movie feels completely like a Disney creation. Nothing and no one feels natural or real. Clooney may be automatically charming just by opening his mouth, but that charm didn't work in this movie, as he was cast as a jaded old man. I understand looking for star power and name recognition, but Clooney was unfortunately miscast.

The other actor that I was excited about seeing was Hugh Laurie. Laurie is one of my favorite actors, and has taken a break from acting over the last couple years to pursue his career in music. I was hoping this would be the role to thrust him back into the Hollywood limelight and make him a hot commodity again. I don't see that happening now. He does a perfectly fine job with what he's given, but he's given very little. He's basically a very flat villain who ends up spouting one of the most poorly written and preachy monologues in recent memory.

The rest of the cast is fine by Disney movie standards. I was hoping for more from this movie, though. Kids won't spot the many flaws in Britt Robertson's performance, so that's not a problem for them. But for everyone else, especially people like me who were expecting this to be a thoughtful and mature (at least more mature than this) sci-fi film, it dampens the quality of and takes us out of the experience.

There is some merit to be found in Tomorrowland. I hope I haven't made it sound like one of the worst films ever made, because it's not; there is some enjoyment to be had here. The visuals in this movie are simply astounding. Brad Bird has made some amazing looking movies in the past, but this was something a little different. I was actually taken aback by how good some of the images in Tomorrowland were. They're fully deserving of recognition at the Oscars.

Additionally, the action, when it comes, is quite entertaining. Bird knows how to film action, which he proved in Ghost Protocol. The big problem with the action here is that there isn't enough of it. For long periods of time, the film consists of people sitting around and talking, driving in a car and talking, or walking and talking. Some of the exposition scenes were truly tedious to get through. The action that came provided some payoff, but not enough to warrant all the talking.

The main disappointment that I had with this movie was the lack of wonder and awe. I was hoping to be inspired by this movie. I was hoping it was going to inject me with a sense of childlike astonishment similar to Interstellar. There are maybe one or two moments where this sort of thing happened, but purely because of the visuals. Nothing about the story or the film's message had a lasting impact on me. Instead, it comes off as annoyingly preachy and utterly generic.

All in all, Tomorrowland was a misfire from Brad Bird, I'd say the first of his career. While the film looks terrific and the performances, while not perfect, are acceptable, little of what I was promised in the trailer can be found in the final product. There are a few really cool moments of imaginative ideas, but I was expecting the whole film to be that way, to fill me with awe. The message was poorly handled and came off as forced. And the aforementioned monologue delivered by Hugh Laurie was so out of place and over the top that it almost felt like straight up propaganda. As much as I hate to say it, this is one you can skip.

D+