Movie Review - Tomorrowland

So here's the thing about this film. This film follows a long line of Disney films based on particular rides, attractions and/or areas of Disney theme parks. Of all of these films, some have had success like Pirates of the Caribbean which spawned many sequels and made itself a franchise as a result, while others haven't had as much success and believe me, there is a list of them. For Tomorrowland, it sounds like a film that should in many ways work well as a film, but there's just something there that makes the film, not as good as it should be. Now Brad Bird of all people, is known to have had a pretty solid run in the work he has done. The Incredibles and Ratatouille which he directed and wrote, are regarded as some of Pixar's best work, so much so that a sequel to the former is currently underway after years of people begging for a sequel. The Iron Giant, while not a huge box office success, has been heavily regarded as a modern animated classic and has gained cult status. And finally, his entry in the Mission Impossible film series Ghost Protocol, has been considered to be among the best of the series. So why is it that Tomorrowland is considered by many to be his first "meh" film? Well let's find out as we enter the World of Tomorrow (can you guess the reference there?):

So first of all, there is some kind of story, but I will say, its kind of confusing so I will do my best to try and make sense of it. We begin in 1964 (after an as expected, variation of the Disney logo) at the annual New York World's Fair. There we meet main character number one Frank Walker (played by the worst Batman ever, George Clooney while as a child, he's played by Thomas Robinson) who is desperate to show off his invention of a jetpack to the leader of a place called Tomorrowland David Nix (played by Blackadder regular and Dr. House himself, Hugh Laurie) who isn't too impressed by it. However, a girl called Athena (played by Raffey Cassidy) sees potential and secretly tells Frank to follow her and Nix to Tomorrowland, which he does. Then we go to main character number 2 Casey Newton (played by Britt Robertson), an optimist and science enthusiast who presumably in the present day, is trying to save her father's job as an engineer, but ultimately failing from a certain extent. But when she is presented a pin which if she touches, takes her to Tomorrowland, she makes it her goal to find this futuristic place, but it may not be as it seems.

So let's address the problems I have with this film. Much like with Pirates 3, the story is confusing and I'm often having problems in trying to keep up with it. There is this well known Disneyland ride at the beginning of the film and let's just say, the song drives everyone nuts (more so than Let It Go). And there is even a whole scene dedicated to referencing everything sci-fi and Brad Bird's other work with Star Wars taking centre stage like the film wants us to know that Disney own Star Wars and if I'm being honest, we already know, you have the whole internet knowing that you own Star Wars (but I did enjoy Key's performance in this one scene so that was good). I also found Athena at times to be a bit creepy and I have never seen Clooney be so dark and full of hatrid in all my life, though he does sort of tone down quite quickly so it doesn't drag on for too long. So now for the good stuff. I like how Tomorrowland looks, it looks very much like a real land of tomorrow as it were. Really good work there. I also liked all these different gadgets and gizmos that were around and I even enjoyed all the fighting, the action scenes. So yeah this film has a lot to like, but also a lot to hate. I know Brad Bird has this habit of making great films, but often having a time of hit or miss with story and of all the stuff he's done, this is actually the first ever film that unlike his previous work, isn't great, but does have some charm in it so yeah. Is it worthy of any film awards? From a technical stand point, I'd say yeah. But as far as story and characters go, I just don't know. Its an ok film, but if you're after something big and spectacular, there is stuff like that in this film, but you're probably better off waiting until Disney bring out Star Wars 7. Not saying the film is bad, I just think it could've been better. That's all. 6/10