Tomorrowland

“Tomorrowland” is a film that very much speaks to me. I have some issues with the pacing but overall it’s a breath of fresh air in terms of science fiction adventure films. To understand why, first I have to tell you what the movie is about. Tomorrowland is a place where the best and brightest artists, inventors, engineers and scientists retreat to build a better world for humanity. Far from politics or corporate meddling, it’s where dreamers belong because they’re the ones who will be able to fix all of the world’s problems (well, as long as they can be fixed with jet packs, advanced robotics, flying cars, state-of-the-art holograms and clean renewable energy anyways) When Casey (Britt Robertson) receives an invitation to the strange realm of wonder, she is pursued by shady characters that are determined to stop her from going there. Aided by a strange girl named Athena (Raffey Cassidy), Casey seeks a former inhabitant of Tomorrowland named Frank (George Clooney) in order to get to her destination.

What I like best about this movie, and the reason to see it isn’t for the special effects, or the acting, the story, the soundtrack or what you would typically number as one of the best things in a movie. I’m not saying that any of these are bad; I actually think the film is solid in pretty much every category, but we’ll address all that later. The reason to see the film is for its child-like sense of wonder and the unstoppable optimism that it promotes. Bear with me if you don’t feel the same, but isn’t it strange that the 22nd century seems so downbeat and gloomy? You can’t turn on the news without hearing about the police shooting unarmed civilians, or the glaciers melting or wars and terrorist attacks. I realize the people on TV aren’t fabricating any of this, but there is a definite bias towards scare-tactic stories. If you watch television or movies, people’s favorite superhero isn’t Superman anymore, it’s the brooding heroes that embrace the darkness and slink back into the shadows once the scum they have been tracking down end up dead, or (sometimes) in jail. Television shows are about worlds without hope where you can expect your favorite characters to get killed off when you have fallen so completely in love with them that it will devastate you, or you can tune into a zombie apocalypse that will never end. I don’t know about you, but all of this negativity and constant reminder that “things are terrible, no one is safe” has been getting to me. I’m sick of it. This film asks “what if instead of looking at what sucks, we focused on what was going well, and how we could fix what we’re struggling with? ”

“Tomorrowland” reminds us of the wonder of invention, the infinite possibilities of what the human mind can contain and what a bright future tomorrow might be. It’s about how a bright, eager young woman COULD make a difference and make the world a better place. It’s about not giving up, keeping bright the flame of enthusiasm and excitement that so long ago allowed mankind to reach the moon with a rocket we were unsure about and a bunch of slide rulers. It’s a movie that would love those old James Bond movies because they were campy and ridiculous, but they didn’t need to be realistic or socially relevant because they were fun. It’s a film that doesn’t question how a giant turtle like Gamera could fly around the world and defeat alien invaders, because someone was going to come and stop those Venusians and if it wasn’t going to be a monster that also happens to be a friend to all children, someone equally ridiculous was going to. It’s got enthusiasm that’s infectious. I think it’s one of the first movies where a story is told in flashback that I felt really worked despite my subconsciously telling me that it “knew” how it was going to end (because otherwise how could the story be told in retrospect)

With this bright-eyed attitude, there’s a lot of fun to be had. The film has a very cool visual style with that retro sci-fi thing (I’ve been in love with jet packs since “The Rocketeer”) It has three solid lead characters (and if you want a film that passes the Bechdel test without a doubt, here you go!) and a plot that kept me guessing and had me really thinking. I like that this movie has a message that works on multiple levels. I really liked Britt Robertson’s character because to me, she felt like every super hero should have been. When I see someone receive a green ring that can do anything, I don’t want to see them doubt themselves… I want to see them get as enthusiastic as I am to see what kind of adventure they’re going to get into. It’s really refreshing to see an intelligent young woman who has the skill and the motivation to seek out her dreams. She’s also amusing to follow, with some nice moments of humor here and there.

“Tomorrowland” isn’t perfect. I had some problems towards the first third regarding the story’s pacing for instance. To my relief, it picked up in momentum and finished strongly. This movie was made for me because I’m an optimist. If you are as well, or if you want to shed some of that cynicism and get back to being excited about the new things in life, then go see this movie. The characters are interesting, the story has a lot of charm (not only because of the prevailing optimism either), the special effects are good and there are many moments of spectacle that will excite you. Stick around to the end of the credits, there’s a neat little moment at the end and see how many references to awesome movies you can spot in a certain memorabilia store Casey visits about halfway through the film. I’m pretty sure I spotted the swamp guy from “Monster Squad” in there. I had a great time with this one. (Theatrical version on the big screen, May 30, 2015)