‘Tomorrowland’ Review

The latest sci-fi adventure from “The Incredibles” director Brad Bird is Disney’s “Tomorrowland”, which is very loosely based on the theme park attraction. Outside of a brief and flat-out awful narration tactic at the start of the film, star George Clooney is missing for the first 45 minutes. His Frank Walker character is introduced to us as a boy, or as I call him, Lil’ Clooney), a young inventor who takes his jet pack invention to the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Frank meets a mysterious young girl and ends-up riding the classic ride “It’s a Small World” (there’s some inside marketing for you), and is soon transported to Tomorrowland – a wondrous place between the present and the future where anything is possible.

The story then shifts to present day, where teenager Casey (“The Longest Ride”‘s Britt Robertson) is arrested and when she’s released from jail receives a Tomorrowland pin. When she touches it, she’s physically transported to this strange place, in brief flashes that only she can experience.

Eventually, following a “Men in Black”-esque stretch involving Casey and the mysterious girl, Athena, from 1964 (who hasn’t aged a day), Casey makes it to Frank Walker’s house. He’s now an adult (and Clooney). Clearly he’s no longer in Tomorrowland, for complicated reasons yet to be explained, but these three end-up having to return to Tomorrowland, for more complicated reasons that I won’t explain, to – literally – save the world.

“Tomorrowland” features an original story, though it’s far from unique. Bird not only directed and produced it, but also co-wrote the script, which includes a few nice touches such as “Iron Giant” and “Incredibles” figures in a sci-fi store Casey visits. Some of the themes, particularly in the homestretch, are fairly heavy for a PG Disney movie. There are no legitimate surprises, and sadly only one element (the relationship between Frank and Athena, seen in both flashbacks and their present-day reunion) actually works, albeit on the low side of the emotion spectrum and slightly creepy.

Clooney himself gives a few solid speeches, though I felt like he was copycatting his own death bed performance from “The Descendants” in a late crying scene. Just about everyone else overacts, and the soundtrack is way too intrusive. The showstoppers of “Tomorrowland”, by far, are the visual effects. A sequence involving the Eiffel Tower will blow you away. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for just about everything else.

On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Tomorrowland” gets a disappointing C.

Running Time: 130 min.