Seeing Tomorrowland caused a realization of how much Disney’s taken over cinema (particularly from viewing its trailers).
In just two months I’ve seen four films made or owned by Disney (Cinderella, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Monkey Kingdom and this film); there’s also a 99% chance I will be seeing five more over the rest of 2015 (McFarland USA, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, Ant-Man and Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Yet with Tomorrowland’s enjoyable plot, amusing action scenes and effective character chemistry, perhaps Disney’s increasing monopoly over mainstream/blockbuster cinema won’t be such a bad thing (there could certainly be worse mass producers…imagine nine Michael Bay films in one year).
In just two months I’ve seen four films made or owned by Disney (Cinderella, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Monkey Kingdom and this film); there’s also a 99% chance I will be seeing five more over the rest of 2015 (McFarland USA, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, Ant-Man and Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Yet with Tomorrowland’s enjoyable plot, amusing action scenes and effective character chemistry, perhaps Disney’s increasing monopoly over mainstream/blockbuster cinema won’t be such a bad thing (there could certainly be worse mass producers…imagine nine Michael Bay films in one year).
Tomorrowland’s plot is told through a series of flashbacks by our two leads, 60s-something Frank Walker (George Clooney) and teenager Casey Newton (Britt Robertson). Both characters tell a different story, with the latter occasionally interrupting to humorously point out a cliché or pacing-issue with their plot (though this stops by the end of Tomorrowland’s first-third). The first story serves as the film’s introduction; an eager, young Frank travels to the 1964 World’s Fair to show off his semi-functioning jetpack. While there he catches the eye of a young girl named Athena (Raffey Cassidy), who gives Frank a unique pin which activities a secret passage in the It’s a Small World ride. The passage transports him to Tomorrowland, a secret utopia where the world’s brightest and best came together to build a fantastic, futuristic city! An older Frank humorously interrupts the scene to inform the viewers “then everything went to hell.” Casey then fast-forwards to present-day Florida, telling her side of the story for the rest of the film’s plot. A bright and overly-optimistic teen, Casey finds her life immersed in negativity, whether it’s from her teachers or dad’s work place at a NASA launch site (which will be soon demolished, leaving her dad unemployed). Casey wishes to improve the future (despite not knowing how), and after discovering a mysterious pin which gives visions of Tomorrowland, heads out in search of the city. Questions continue to build however, when the audience discover Casey’s been given the pin by Athena, still the same age she was back in 1964.
As with many of their films, the Disney opening logo has been once again altered, looking similar to Tomorrowland. The utopian city is given plenty of screen time both in film and commercial, employed as its selling point of attraction. While effective as a lure, Tomorrowland is no more than a snazzy piece of CGI haze; a fun assortment of unique, high-tech inventions/constructions made far less impressive due to an overabundance of special effects. The city’s green screen backdrop limits the “Wow!” factor Tomorrowland tries to achieve; rather, the aspect which makes Tomorrowland succeed stems largely with its characters. MAJOR SPOILERS BEGIN: The main trio of cranky old Frank, young optimistic Casey and robot Athena make for a bizarre yet highly entertaining group. It’s hard to believe actors with such age differences (Clooney in his 50s, Robertson in her 20s, and Cassidy in her early teens) could form such an effective adventure-genre team, yet all three work together with engaging charm and surprising chemistry.
Clooney being the veteran actor gives his usual solid performance, combining gruffness, charm and dry humor into his character; this makes Frank your typical George Clooney persona, which he somehow always pulls off refreshingly (or at least most of the time…cough, Batman & Robin, cough…). Our protagonist Casey Newton is a very likable character, possessing wits, street-smarts and sensibility. She’s a fine balance between resourcefully clever, ditsy genius, and feisty optimist. Athena is an unexpected highlight, largely thanks to her absences in the trailers. In her first major film role, actor Raffey Cassidy performs terrifically alongside George Clooney. The two actors feel natural, as if they’ve been working together for years; there’s no signs of coddling from Clooney nor anxiety from Cassidy. By the end I had grown fond of their relationship, with Athena’s sacrificing scene having serene beauty and genuine sadness. MAJOR SPOILERS END
Another highlight from Tomorrowland is its highly amusing action sequences. Similar to the adventure trio, the fight scenes contain their own brand of entertaining bizarreness, such as when little Athena battles an interracial robot couple using martial arts, laser guns and bombs which stop the fabric of time (it makes slightly more sense in-context). Another fun scene involves Frank and Casey fighting robots in what I call an extreme version of Home Alone, using various booby traps to destroy, dismantle, or disable the machines in unnecessarily elaborate yet highly entertaining ways. The scene ends with Casey mercilessly beating an android’s face with a bat, which would have been incredibly gruesome if it wasn’t a robot (which instead makes it a funny scene…kind of disturbing when I think about it). The fights are quite amusing and the most entertaining scenes in Tomorrowland.
Throughout the film, Tomorrowland generates questions and mysteries for its audience, leaving them highly anticipated for a satisfying conclusion. Such direction can be problematic at times, causing the film’s pacing to become sluggish around the halfway point. Such frustration only served to increase my intrigue and expectations, but does the finale pay off? The answer is yes…to a certain extent; Tomorrowland’s ending does satisfy, though not in the expected way. The city of Tomorrowland has a “Harry Potter hidden world” feeling to it; although unlike in Harry Potter (where the muggle world and theirs remain separate by the conclusion), Tomorrowland finds a reasonable and satisfying way to combine its utopia with the actual world. From its concept of “The World of Tomorrow” one might expect Tomorrowland to leave its viewers amazed (or fail trying at least), yet the conclusion does not fulfill in the “Wow!” department (similar to its CGI utopia); instead, Tomorrowland concludes on a more subtle, sweeter note based more on character than plot. Of course while sweet and amazing would have been better, Tomorrowland still succeeds in being a fun, entertaining, and most importantly, good film.