“Do I have to explain everything? Can’t you just be amazed and move on?” George Clooney’s Frank Walker proclaims as he and others attempt to enter a hidden futuristic world in Disney’s Tomorrowland.
It’s just a shame the film doesn’t listen to Clooney’s character more often.
Tomorrowland, based on the Disney attraction of the same name, has the potential to be awe-inspiring. But instead, director Brad Bird’s latest effort seems more interested in blaming the human race for all that ails the planet.
In scene after scene, we’re constantly reminded that the end is near because of unstable governments, wars, climate change and every other conceivable catastrophe under the sun.
And if that repeated finger-waving gets tiresome for adults, can you imagine how younger audiences will handle a brow-beating from Mickey Mouse?
It’s not like exposition-filled Tomorrowland gets off to a fast start, either.
Shortly after the film opens, we meet Casey Newton, a brilliant and optimistic teenager played by the impressive Britt Robertson. The daughter of a NASA engineer, Casey stumbles upon a mysterious pin that temporarily transports her to Tomorrowland, a parallel dimension created by the world’s most impressive scientists, thinkers, dreamers and artists.
But Casey’s trip is short-lived, as the magic behind the pin only lasts for a few moments. The only way for her to get back is to work with Clooney’s Frank Walker, a former whiz kid who knows Tomorrowland’s many secrets.
That’s when Tomorrowland launches into impressive action sequences that resemble Disney’s most exhilarating theme park rides. One of the most heart-pounding scenes involves Clooney and Robertson trying to escape a group of human-looking robots seeking to end the Earth’s future.
Despite the clumsy attempts at social commentary, the movie’s production design and special effects are top-notch. Bird and screenwriters Jeff Jensen and Damon Lindelof display creativity in these scenes. You’ll never look at the Eiffel Tower or the “It’s a Small World” ride the same way again.
I suspect there’s a spectacular movie hiding in Tomorrowland, but you’d have to get past the preaching to find it.
