A World Beyond

Tomorrowland is directed and written by Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) and stars George Clooney (Gravity, Ocean's Eleven), Britt Robertson (The Longest Ride, The First Time) and Raffey Cassidy (Mr. Selfridge). Tomorrowland is the latest instalment in the Disney live action empire - will it join the hall of fame or the hall of shame?

Tommorowland's biggest issue was its messy narrative - the film did not have a story until the last 15 minutes - before then, like the characters, I had no idea what was going on and who this girl Athena (Cassidy) is and where she was in the marketing campaign - I don't blame Disney for missing her out though. The film also let many lose ends untied and the end battle was so underwhelming. If this didn't have the likeable main characters, Disney behind it or the superb visual effects - it would have been terrible. I don't understand how Bird who directed and wrote my favourite film of all time - The Incredibles - could produce something as sloppy as this! Was he being rushed? I just hope that for The Incredibles 2 he can get his act back together!

Athena - the annoying main character that nobody knew about because Disney knew she would be a turn-off for many potential viewers. I hated her! She was fine at first but as the size of her role became bigger and the amount of her amateur acting increased, I felt like she belonged in Spy-Kids more and more - not in Tomorrowland!

I was also incredibly disappointed with the amount of time that we actually spent in Tomorrowland - the scenes at the beginning were amazing and I thought Disney were on to something special but as the movie developed and more time was spent on Earth, I wondered why the film is even called Tomorrowland! However, I did feel like if the DisneyWorld area - it would have looked a lot like this so I applaud Bird for the good imagining of the area. This is kind of like Godzilla last year - all that building up and all you get is a glimpse. 

However, I was really impressed with George Clooney and Britt Robertson - Clooney is an all-round talented actor and this was my first encounter of Robertson but I was really pleased with her talent in this - maybe The Longest Ride won't be that bad? If the movie didn't have anchors like Clooney or Robertson - it would have been dull! I also really like both of the characters and believe that they have been written well. 

The visual effects were stunning - the first moments where Casey (Robertson) touched the pin were really incredible and should go down as iconic in the film industry - the scenes looked so much better than they did in the trailers - they were brilliant! I also really liked the visuals of Tomorrowland when it was actually on-screen. However, I was not too keen on the robots as they were very Spy-Kids-esque. I also want to touch on the beginning of the film which was far superior to the rest of it - I really like how the attraction 'It's a Small World' was incorporated into the plot - I would have liked to see a few more theme park tie-ins besides from this and the Space Mountain attraction. Tomorrowland also has a really nice message - to be a dreamer which was really heartwarming and gave a meaning to the pin - SPOILER: this kind of helped Casey's character not just be 'the chosen one' - her character actually had something to it. 

Tomorrowland is not what I was hoping for - it is a little disappointing! The magic is present at the beginning but is lost as time goes on. Clooney and Robertson do fantastic jobs but I just wish Cassidy's character was erased from the whole plot. The film certainly isn't boring and is extremely fun and actually has the rewatchability factor. Tomorrowland is nice to look at but the plot is hard to follow. Brad Bird had a dream with this film - surprisingly, I don't feel that dream. Spy-Kids for a new generation. 

3.5 STARS - B-

Did you like TOMORROWLAND? What is your favourite live-action Disney movie? - COMMENT BELOW

TOMORROWLAND is part of our Summer 2015 campaign!

See You Soon!