Tomorrowland (Brad Bird)

[Henry Gale]

IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1964418/) / Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrowland_%28film%29)

http://i.imgur.com/uo5e3Gs.jpg

[Henry Gale]

An undeniably interesting, timely thesis on the state of science fiction and actual science's current place in our culture without being an super substantial, enticing and forward-thinking piece of sci-fi itself.

It works as well as it does because of the talent involved, but it also seems to glide simply on its surface ideas. There aren't really characters here, just self-appointed vessels for ideas with performances of little variation (Clooney is gruff and unhappy! Robertson is sly and surprised! Laurie is snide and evil[..ish]!) Only a monologue by Laurie's character later on sticks out in my mind where he outright rails against the current public for basking in gloom and dystopia rather than engaging in fixing and advancing the world around them feels like the film is merging its creative skill, acting and setpiece-based screenwriting with the ideas it's juggling in an exciting way. Because even if it's maybe way too on the nose and trivial, it's the rare moment that chooses to completely forgo dealing in allegories or scrambled symbolism and just outright finds itself with a moment where at least instead of dialogue dealing in abstractions and mystery-box dodging, a character actually comes out and feels like they're saying something they want to, and for that it's the rare moment in the late section of the film that where it actually elicited tangible feelings and further ideas in me.

And to that point of characters acting like they reasonably should: As much as I've liked and even loved most of Lindelof's TV and film work in the past, it really does display one of his biggest crutches of characters not revealing information to simply superficially sustain mysteries within the protracted trajectory of the story instead of it actually making sense in their overall motivations. And it feels like it's at its worst ever here because there's not really much necessary to build up as eventual reveals. It hides so much of its mythology and plotting early on that when it eventually comes back into play, it almost seems to forget it never told us everything upfront. It's like the first draft was too straightforward and they decided to sacrifice half of the backstory later on to make it seem more elusive.

So needless to say, contradictions abound, both in its executions and in my own feelings. Basically Simon Pegg's awesomely written defense (http://simonpegg.net/2015/05/19/big-mouth-strikes-again/) of his "superhero movies are making us childish / dumbing us down" comments basically does the job this movie broadly attempts with more humour and humanity. And also it didn't help seeing this a night after finally seeing Hertzfeldt's World of Tomorrow, nearly a month after I can still feel Ex Machina strong impression on me, and especially as I'm still left buzzing from Fury Road a week later. It's just hard to stand by Bird's film hollowly condemning dystopian science fiction when Miller's post-apocalyptic film in particular gave me more ecstatic joy as well as emotional and cerebral inspiration than Tomorrowland's sometimes schmaltzy, empty gestures of bland hope.

But I still really mostly like it! There are some fabulously crafted sequences of pure, glossy spectacle, like the best '80s Spielbergian / Universal Studios / Disneyland staples that movie-making technology never could've achieved then, and even if it haphazardly goes about its themes, it's not like it's grasping at straws. I just wish I was more moved by what it actually does than I was simply admiring it for the many things it tries. It's a potential huge breakthrough in search of an equation.

People are likely going to pin all of the film's scripts shortcomings on Lindelof (as much as he is prone to the issue I mentioned above, on full dislay here), but Bird is equally credited (with heavier pull as director), and it's hard to know where exactly the "Alright, let's pull the trigger" / "Ah-ha! It's [this]!" moment in Tomorrowland's creation was, except of maybe that Disney was simply willing to hand them hundreds of millions of dollars to execute the seeds of their vision. A blank cheque, genius grant sorta deal, only they seem to treat it like an all-expenses paid, self-important, geeky vacation. It's not entirely a bad thing in practice or especially not something I wouldn't endorse allowing Bird in theory, it's just a shame these were all the stories he came back with on this holiday.

**½ / 6.2

[Dukefrukem]

Expectations set. Thank you Henry. I am planning on seeing this Sunday to boost my Fantasy Draft numbers.

[number8]

It's funny that this came out after Mad Max Fury Road.

[Spun Lepton]

Well, all the poor reviews are a bit discouraging. I had really high hopes for this one. Looks like a rental, now.

[number8]

The marketing ended up being a huge problem, I think. It put a lot of focus on the story of visiting Tomorrowland and its wonders, but they only got there in the last 15 minutes and the movie is actually a mystery-thriller-chase film where the protagonist is kept in the dark about what's going on for absolutely no reason, chasing answers the audience already knows and want to move on from.

Great set pieces and fantastic ideas, but the delivery method is shot from the very beginning. They had an important thesis and a wonderful gimmick, but no story at all. Which I have to assume Bird realized given the wink wink framing device.

[Pop Trash]

Has Wats not seen this yet? Is he curled up in a shower crying about it?

[Watashi]

I haven't had any time. I have no idea when I'll see it.

[Ivan Drago]

I expected so much better from Brad Bird. The best scene in the movie is the one-take shot where Casey visits Tomorrowland for the first time. But then it all goes downhill from there with cheesy villains, Disney sucking its own dick (no joke, one of George Clooney’s lines is, “Well, zip-a-dee-doo to you”), and Lindelof making it an absolute chore to get behind these characters. Good lord, this was bad.

[Henry Gale]

It's just such a bizarre movie. It's definitely weakened in my mind the more I've thought about it, remembering certain things that just didn't come together the way I wanted (if at all), and listening to podcast discussions and reading articles about it from different ends has definitely solidified my thoughts on it a lot more.

But I still have no idea what to think about it, at least with a nice little bow on it I can leave alone.

So much promise of inspiration with so little commitment to actually inspiring. It just has a lot of effective moments to distract me from that deep disappointment.

[Peng]

Oh wow, hugely disappointing; despite the reviews, I thought I was going to enjoy it on some level since it's Brad Bird. I am mostly fine with movies that don't stand up to post-viewing scrunity, provided they are diverting in the moment. This one's internal logic, however, just crumbled while I was watching it. And since most of it is explanation throughout, the feeling happens constantly and there's little action to divert it at all. Liked the first glimpses of Tomorrowland and the ending scene, but otherwise not good at all.

[Watashi]

So this is gone from theaters. I never saw it.

I guess if I never see it, Brad Bird is still perfect for me.

[Dukefrukem]

I liked this.

[Skitch]

I thought it was wonderful. Surprised reviews are so mixed.