There’s an old philosophy that says, the simplest way to make any film feel timeless is to set it in the past. It creates a more intangible relationship between the film and its time of its release by severing all ties to pop culture references and current trends. It’s the kind of magic that keeps Indiana Jones (the first 3 at least; bloody Crystal Skull!) fresh for every new generation to enjoy, or the likes of Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan still relevant through the decades. By the same contrast, the easiest way to give a film the death sentence of feeling dated is to set it the future. When you look back at the futuristic classics of the of the last century and realise that even your older model iPhone is incomparably more advanced than the bulky LED light computer displays, huge circuit board hard drives,wire frame maps and visuals that you’re watching, the so called tale of tomorrow immediately feels past it’s time. We’re even living in an example right now. Look at Back to the Future Part 2's vision of 2015, where despite everyone having flying cars, they still use fax machines! The future may be bright but using it in film-making is a dangerous place to tread in which only the truly great survive the test of time. Disney has never been shy of trying it’s time capsule luck and after its mass Pirates success, looks to its fabled theme parks again for inspiration with Tomorrowland.
The young Casey (Britt Robertson – Life Unexpected, Under the Dome) finds a mysterious pin badge that takes her to another world when she touches it. Her search for answers takes her to a downbeat local inventor, Frank, (George Clooney – Oceans 11, Gravity) who helps her find this place called Tomorrowland, but will the world of the future be all she expected?
One of the best things about director Brad Bird’s work with Disney is that he manages to put a great spin on their classic brand ideals in a way that feels contextual and relevant to the material. In The Incredibles, he utilized superheroes to flip their “everybody’s special” culture showing that’s okay to be better at something than others. In Tomorrowland, he tips his cap in salute to the dreamers in a wonderful reflection of our “scroll down” society. That instead of waiting for the future to appear, we should be looking to the present and asking ourselves what we’re doing to make it happen. This is superbly channelled through Casey’s central character, right from her pro-NASA vandalism introduction. A kid that dreamed of travelling to the stars doing everything she can to stop that dream from dying out, it makes her immediately and effortlessly relatable so that the audience would want to invest in her journey. In many ways, the ideals in play are a less grim and present day version of Interstellar, presenting a society on the beginning of that grey and dust-heavy departure by their own inaction. You can also draw comparisons to the Bioshock game series as Tomorrowland’s “gathering of our best and brightest” city makes a shiny and less art deco equivalent of Rapture. Just like its aquatic splicing counterpart, there’s a good undertone reflection about the need morality and conscience to go hand in hand with science. That while placing no barriers or restrictions on imaginations led to many advancements there was of course that one leap too far changed everything. This event is a heavily teased mystery throughout and the reveal doesn’t quite deliver to those expectations but it’s satisfying enough.
Within a few minutes, Tomorrowland voices its own intentions as a young flashback Frank justifies his invented jetpack, “Can’t it just be fun?”. Llike its theme park inspirations, this is a fun ride to experience and frequently delivers its best when not taking itself too seriously. Such as a first act fight and shoot out inside Sci-Fi merchandise shop with Disney’s entire genre back catalogue (of course including Star Wars) sprawled over the shelves and stands and exploding into an utter delight of action and comedy. Just one of several great interlaced set pieces, both practical and CG effects driven, that utilize many classic sci-fi staples well. From robots, teleportation to all manner of guns that Coulson wouldn’t know, there’s a good variation and creativity, and in many cases, jaw-dropping visuals. From the heavily trailer featured “pin touch” transitions to an utterly stunning continuously shot upon first arrival, there’s enough here to have your kids spending every weekend this month in the shed, building their own contraptions. Not to mention Bird pulls another regular ace out of his sleeve. The soundtrack is outstanding and perfectly complimenting to the awe and wonder of so many sequences.
Of course, you can't hardly expect the future to be perfect. The biggest issue here is a rushed final act. In the same way a super hero origins story can struggle to deliver a fitting villain battle climax after spending too much of its story on creating its central character; so too does Tomorrowland as it spends so much time on the journey, that it has a lot of ground to cover when it actually gets there. There are also a few points throughout where the story gets bogged down in exposition. There’s so much going on, it literally has to slam the brakes to spell out a few details in which absence of the overriding fun is very noticeable. It manages a few good Bill & Ted-esque explanation dodges as Frank asks Casey why she just can’t be amazed rather than asking how everything works, but the central themes of questioning the given require a certain degree of reasonable answers. Yet at the same time, some areas feel glossed over too quickly, such as a quick trip to Paris. While it delivers a marvel for the eyes, it’s also a lot to take in within a short period of time.
A hell of a lot of Tomorrowland’s narrative depends on Britt Robertson’s likeability, and to her credit, she absolutely nails it, endearing in her determination and confidence but hilarious when the unknown strips her of it. She also has great chemistry with Clooney. At times, the pair even has a grumpier Doc Brown and Marty vibe going between them. As for said silver fox, science fiction is clearly bringing the best out of him right now. Like in Gravity, he actually feels like enjoying himself for a change without the need for Oscar-pandering. The weaker link in the main group is Raffey Cassidy (Snow White and the Huntsman, Mr Selfridge) as the friendly droid of the bunch. She has plenty of fun moments but takes a while to get into her character. In fact, for much of the first half, she sounds like she’s doing an early films Hermione impression. Hugh Laurie (Blackadder, House) has his work cut out for him on villain duties with comparably little screen time but thankfully, he’s still Hugh Laurie and successfully blends humour and dark intent into his character. The likes of Kathryn Hahn and Keegan-Michael Key make good comedic cameos (Key’s entrance will have you on the floor). Tim McGraw (Friday Night Lights, The Blind Side), like some of his country songs, feels a little bland as Casey’s father which crucially stops their father daughter relationship feeling as important as it should.
Tomorrowland is a great example of a creative director being given a near blank canvas to work with (the theme park source material came with no story requirements) and the result is a wonderful celebration of imagination and innovation that still has a good meaningful backbone running through it. It’s a film that will frequently surprise you, and in fact, is bets viewed cold with as little preceding knowledge as possible. With oddly similar timing, it feels like it could mimic Edge of Tomorrow to become this year’s painfully overlooked sci-fi film, but those who chose to gaze into the future will do so with a firm smile on their face.
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