When I saw other reviews for this, I asked only one question- Did they see the same movie that I did? Because I don’t know how they couldn’t see the value in this film.
It's a beautiful poster. Admit it.
Tomorrowland is one of the few original ideas in a year of reboots, remakes, and sequels. Not that there’s anything wrong with all of those reboots, remakes, and sequels, but it is refreshing to see something new. But going into it, nobody really knows what it’s about. The trailers didn’t show anything that gave away the whole story like the Terminator Genisys trailer did. That’s one thing trailers should never do, but for some reason, people always want to know exactly what they’re getting into before they go see a movie. Tomorrowland’s trailers deserve credit for being reasonably vague.
This review will be as vague as the trailers are. However, I’ll still tell you what you need to know before seeing it, all without giving a single shred of information away that you may have not already known.
Tomorrowland is not actually about Tomorrowland itself. It’s about the characters and their adventure getting there. It’s about a teenaged girl named Casey that finds a pin, and whenever she touches it, she sees a vision of Tomorrowland, a high tech utopian society where all the greatest geniuses, scientists, engineers, inventors, and most creative minds actually dared to make their dreams of the future a reality. With the help of another little girl and George Clooney, she embarks on her adventure to find Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland itself isn’t shown much until the last act of the film, so don’t go into this movie expecting to be in Tomorrowland for the majority of the time. It’s ultimately about getting there, and the mystery surrounding it.
The journey to Tomorrowland is a really fun, intriguing, and suspenseful adventure to experience. No part of the mystery of Tomorrowland is revealed in big doses, but is instead given in little hints and clues. This adventure succeeds in keeping your interest throughout the film, and until the third act, it’s still leaves you on your own to figure out for yourself what Tomorrowland is and what the big mystery might be. The payoff is the point that I think most people are agreeing on- people agree that the third act isn’t as good as the rest of the movie. I do see why those people would be disappointed, and I completely understand. However I wasn’t too bothered by it.
Most of the credit is due to the actors, especially George Clooney. Given the type of movie it is, he could have just said a few lines and gotten his paycheck, but he puts in all his effort regardless. Everyone else does a pretty good job as well. The girl who plays Casey, Britt Robertson, did better than I expected her to. She’s the one that had to make this movie work, and she succeeded. She didn’t let the spotlight shine on George Clooney all the time. However, the real show stealer was the little British girl. She’s arguably the coolest character of the entire movie. Not only that, but the child actress, Raffey Cassidy, is brilliant! That isn’t said too much about child actors, but I’m not kidding- she does a fantastic job! I can definitely see her getting more jobs in film again. I hope she gets to be in more movies, because her acting talent could lead to a bright future, given the right scripts for the right movies.
Although Tomorrowland isn’t shown that much, it’s incredible when it is on screen. It really does look like the future that the 1950’s imagined we would be in by the year 2000. You know, all the flying cars, flying busses, jetpacks, quick and easy space travel, tall buildings with architecture that we could only dream of, devices and gadgets seen in the Jetsons, and… gravity defying swimming pools. When you see the movie, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The filmmakers really did make Tomorrowland look and feel like an awesome place to be.
Looking at it, I couldn’t help but think that at this point in our existence, we should be at Tomorrowland levels of advancements. The movie points this out, too. It’s a part of the main message of the film. The message may seem a tad bit too preachy at times, but it’s a message that isn’t done too often. The message is definitely rarely delivered in a way that can be understood by everyone. I wouldn’t listen to the people that say that the message is hammered into your brain. It’s an important message that I personally believe in and love, and it’s by far a less annoying message that has been hammered into our heads by other movies, such as “believe in yourself”, “don’t do drugs”, “never give up”, and all the like. The depth of the message is revealed in the final act (the part that’s left others unsatisfied) and when it’s all explained, you can’t help but agree with what’s being said. I know I completely agreed! It’s an important thing to hear about!
Because of the nature of the message throughout the film, I’d say it falls into the same category as movies like Big Hero 6, Meet the Robinsons (if you remember that one), and The Lego Movie. All those films have their messages based around both creativity, imagination, and how to make a better future. With Tomorrowland, the message is a bit more obvious, but it’s not even remotely close to the sickeningly annoying nature of the message of a film like… Ferngully.
In the end, I thought Tomorrowland was a well done movie. I could see its flaws, and I understand why others would be disappointed by what they got. As for me, I wasn’t let down. I enjoyed what I saw, and I thought the message was a good one for more people to know about. It’s a fun movie that I feel deserves just a tad bit more credit. There's a lot of value in this movie, and it's sad that not a whole lot of the critics can see it.
FINAL RATING: 42 / 50
STORY: 4 / 5
ACTING: 4 / 5
CHARACTERS: 5 / 5
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 5 / 5
ADVENTURE: 4 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 3 / 5
TONE: 4 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 5 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 4 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 4 / 5
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