Tomorrowland

While not lacking in heart and soul, “Tomorrowland,” released in 2015, was lacking something.

While Brad Bird’s inspirational story will be sure to interest some younger viewers, the film oversold itself with a title like “Tomorrowland.” Therese Lacson said in her review, “Trailers and promotions sold the film to be nothing short of a fantastical adventure into a living breathing version of Disney’s Tomorrowland theme park, however the delivery left much to be desired. Watching the film, I constantly felt like I was waiting for us to be transported into a world that Britt Robertson’s Casey only glimpses at.”

Lacson continued, “It spends a lot of time building up and makes half of the movie feel like exposition, while the other half proves to be something similar to candy-coated disappointment. The message of the story is blared loud and clear, optimism and hope wins out in the end, and boy, is that message hammered into you.” It is very much a Disney film, but somehow manages to lose some of the impact of a real Disney film.

Animated films like “Up,” “Toy Story 3,” and “Frozen” manage to impress not only children, but also the general audience of all ages with a heart-warming story and a positive message. In comparison to its animated film, “Tomorrowland” lacks.

George Clooney’s Frank Walker, a grayish pessimist brings some seriousness to an otherwise life film, as does Hugh Laurie’s David Nix. Lacson admitted, “Robertson’s Casey Newton bears an incredibly suffocating amount of optimism, and often challenged my belief of her brilliance when she seemed to repeatedly make the most basic of mistakes.” Newcomer Raffey Cassidy does manage to be good as Athena, and her chemistry with Clooney manages to show from their scenes together.

The set design of the actual Tomorrowland is shiny, bright, and beautiful, complete with all the gadgets you would see of a utopian, innovative future world. It would have been awesome to see Casey and Frank interact with the other citizens of the city, and watch them as they are sucked into the titular realm. Unfortunately, when you see it, the movie does not deliver.

Lacson ended her review by saying, “While entertaining in some aspects, Tomorrowland falls flat in promising what it’s advertising, feeling more like concept art before a final film. Overflowing with optimism, it fails to feel genuine. The cast give their best, but this is not a film I would watch again.”

The idea is good, but it doesn’t deliver in what it wrote out. Laurie feels like he is slipping in out of his Dr. House voice that a lot of the times, you don’t hear his accent. I don’t know if that was intentional or not. Still, this is a film that I won’t be seeing after seeing it once because it was just a disappointment. Don’t see this film, but if you see it on Disney+, then it’s on you. Like I said, I don’t think this will be a film for everyone, but younger viewers will probably like this one fine, but adults will probably not want to sit and watch the whole film.

Tomorrow I will look at an animated film that is about some animals that were never focused on before in “Disney Month 2024.”