TOMORROWLAND (2015) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

tomorrowland (2015) movie

Genre              |   Science Fiction

Classification   |   PG

Running time   |   130 minutes

Released         |   28 May 2015

cast

George Clooney ... Frank Walker
Hugh Laurie ... Nix
Britt Robertson ... Casey Newton
Raffey Cassidy ... Athena
Tim McGraw ... Eddie Newton
Kathryn Hahn ... Ursula
Keegan-Michael Key ... Hugo
Chris Bauer ... Frank's Dad
​Judy Greer ... Jenny Newton

director

Brad Bird

writer

Damon Lindelof ... (screenplay by) and
Brad Bird ... (screenplay by)
 
Damon Lindelof ... (story by) &
Brad Bird ... (story by) &
Jeff Jensen ... (story by)

cinematographer

​Claudio Miranda

music

​Michael Giacchino

film editor

​Walter Murch
Craig Wood

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box office result

Worldwide               $​209,154,322  

Australia                 $​​3,397,228

North America        $​​​​​93,436,322

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the best dialogue

Nix: Let's imagine... if you glimpsed the future, you were frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? You would go to... the politicians, captains of industry? And how would you convince them? Data? Facts? Good luck! The only facts they won't challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in. But what if... what if there was a way of skipping the middle man and putting the critical news directly into everyone's head? The probability of wide-spread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it was to show it. To scare people straight. Because, what reasonable human being wouldn't be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they've ever known or loved? To save civilization, I would show its collapse. But, how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up like a chocolate eclair! They didn't fear their demise, they re-packaged it. It could be enjoyed as video-games, as TV shows, books, movies, the entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse and sprinted towards it with gleeful abandon. Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one! Bees and butterflies start to disappear, the glaciers melt, algae blooms. All around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and you won't take the hint! In every moment there's the possibility of a better future, but you people won't believe it. And because you won't believe it you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality. So, you dwell on this terrible future. You resign yourselves to it for one reason, because *that* future does not ask anything of you today. So yes, we saw the iceberg and warned the Titanic. But you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you want to sink! You gave up! That's not the monitor's fault. That's yours.

Casey Newton: Even the tiniest of actions can change the future.

Frank Walker: What you saw was a commercial that was recorded decades ago. It was an invitation that never went out because the damn party got canceled. You are not supposed to do anything. You've been manipulated to feel like you're part of something incredible, like you were special. But you weren't. You're not.

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TOMORROWLAND (2015) MOVIE IMAGES

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TOMORROWLAND (2015) STORY SYNOPSIS

​A former boy genius (George Clooney) and gifted teenager (Britt Robertson) set out on a dangerous mission to unearth the secrets of "Tomorrowland", an enigmatic location caught between time and space.

TOMORROWLAND (2015) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 27 May 2015
Pop ​Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐

Brad Bird, one of movie-making’s most imaginative minds, fails to deliver the knock-out hit many have been expecting with TOMORROWLAND; an almost by-the-numbers advertisement for the politically-correct alarmists who hold some kind of mistaken view that the problems of the world can be solved by a chosen few. The lack of information surrounding the story of TOMORROWLAND in the lead-up to the film’s release has been cause for concern. Very little has been revealed about the plot. The central idea that ‘to save the present the film’s protagonists must travel to the future’ doesn’t provide enough compelling information for audiences to buy into the story. Concerns about the slim narrative are warranted, as the film moves slowly and lacks the necessary set-pieces to adequately compete as a genuine cinematic blockbuster.

The core problem with Bird’s film is Damon Lindelof’s screenplay. (Yes, it’s easy to target Lindelof by reputation alone, but in the case of TOMORROWLAND, the criticism is warranted.) Lindelof writes characters extremely well, but, like PROMETHEUS, COWBOYS & ALIENS and STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, the audience feel as though the action never really takes flight despite the spectacle on show. In fairness, Lindelof’s scripts have been matched with very strong Directors (in the true sense) and there’s no doubt that his work undergoes significant revision during production. The problem with TOMORROWLAND is that the story never coalesces into a coherent whole, where the plot threads come together to provide an emotionally uplifting ending worthy of its ambition.

The story has several significant structural problems that diminish its overall impact. The first is its opening scene. In a blatant effort to engage the audience in its opening moments, the film utilizes a specific narrative technique in such a clumsy manner that it telegraphs almost the entire story in the opening moments. The second structural issue is the introduction of George Clooney (as Frank Walker) into the story. His character enters the action far too late. Britt Robertson (as Casey Newton) is left to carry almost the first half of the film on her own and it’s too much for one character to drive the narrative and plot forward. Her initial discovery of an alternate, future existence is also presented in a confusing manner, leaving the audience unsure of whether what she is experiencing is real. Given the uncertainty of TOMORROWLAND’s existence in Casey’s mind, her character’s acceptance of ensuing events stretches credibility and makes it hard for the viewer to believe that she believes!

While Clooney and Robertson work hard to get the action going once they’re paired up, the rest of the cast is pretty one dimensional in their effort. Raffey Cassidy (as Athena) and Hugh Laurie (as Nix) have the greatest amount of screen time, but both are wasted. The story attempts to use Laurie’s Nix in an adversarial manner with Clooney’s Frank, but their inter-actions seem so pleasant that it’s hard to accept any sort of villainy on Laurie’s part. Given how effective Laurie was for so many seasons in House as its cantankerous, mischievous titular character, it’s hard to believe that Brad Bird didn’t want to tap into those skills and allow him to chew the scenery. Instead, the characters remain “important” throughout, waiting for the story to unfold in a manner that justifies their adherence for something “serious” to eventuate.

The problem with waiting for “serious” to eventuate is that it may well disappoint when it arrives… TOMORROWLAND’s biggest structural problem is that its “threat” is not a person or an event, but a concept. The idea that the world will end in the not-too-distant future is vague at best. While it speaks to the very ideals that Walt Disney espoused for making the world a better place, the lack of an immediate imperative precludes TOMORROWLAND from pulling its plot threads together in the third act to deliver the necessary action and emotion to provide the viewer with an above-average movie-going experience. It spends a lot of time wanting to make the audience feel like it’s something important, but it lacks the right amount of fun and adventure needed to balance this ambition. For a film with a $180 million price tag plus marketing costs, this is a problem. Positive word-of-mouth upon early viewers is vital for an original story such as TOMORROWLAND, but, in this case, the film is – at best – six out of ten. That’s not enough to guarantee success either now or in the future!

TOMORROWLAND (2015) USEFUL LINKS

​​Tomorrowland (film) - Wikipedia
​Tomorrowland (2015) - IMDb
​Tomorrowland (2015) - Rotten Tomatoes

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