Written by James M. Tate / 5/23/2015 / 1 Comment / brit robertson , disney , george clooney , hugh laurie , science-fiction
WEEKEND REVIEW OF TOMORROWLAND
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year: 2015 |
Starting out as a ROCKETEER meets CONTACT, we have two young heroes – first a brilliant boy who will grow into George Clooney; and then a determined girl who receives a magical pin to enter the titular location that includes a monorail (sans the rail) and other futuristic CG visuals, as if George Lucas created a live-action JETSONS... But Steven Spielberg seems the nostalgic influence of director Brad Bird. Unfortunately, as we’re detoured into a clunky road picture involving intrepid kids and banal villains, it's more of a limp GOONIES than a Millennial CLOSE ENCOUNTERS.


Calling TOMORROWLAND preachy, as some mainstream critics have had to reluctantly admit, is an understatement – and an insult to films with a more subtle/less overwhelming message intact: not uncommon in the Sci-Fi genre, especially going back to the Atomic Era 50’s. Yet the final doomsday monologue by Hugh Laurie, while reminiscence of Michael Rennie’s anti-nuke lecture at the peak of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, is more annoyingly hypocritical (coming from Disney) than overall effective.
Too silly to be deep and too complicated to be involving, TOMMOROWLAND doesn't feel especially catered to any particular age group. Basically, director Brad Bird and co-scriptwriter Damon Lindelof have taken us for a long misleading ride. And the irony is... they meant to.
RATING: *
Labels:
brit robertson,
disney,
george clooney,
hugh laurie,
science-fiction
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Your written reviews are only getting better. This is a great review. Disney had to know they had a stinker by just seeing one of the trailers for this in a movie theater. What sucks is I'm a huge Brad Bird fan, but even though I am, there was no way I was going to get in a movie theater to see this movie.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work Mr. Tate.