Tomorrowland Review

Ben_since_1971

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Meh. Movie started out great (I won't spoil it) but then just became so-so. Some of the concepts were cool, the effects were neat, but overall, just meh. Not worth seeing in IMAX (less than 25 people at the 6:30 show I went to). The ending made me think live action 'Meet the Robinsons'.

Space Mountain made quite the cameo tho.
 

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
I really liked it, but the trimming of the Walt/park references that were hyped for a while took me out of the movie. It just seems like they were ashamed of that particular gonzo idea of Walt being involved with Plus Ultra (which was what was selling me on the film more then anything else) and yet they're still fine with unironically calling all the androids Audio-Animatronics.

Lot of reviews hate the soapboxing, but I still thought it was fun and it's not like Nix is wrong about apocalypse/dystopia glut probably creating a self-fulfilling prophecy and in some ways, it summed up some of my feelings about why I think Avatar's a bad fit for Animal Kingdom what with it being part of that problem.
 

Progress.City

Well-Known Member
It sounds like the studio division is showing off what they can do with its management and budget if given the chance to run the parks and resorts division.

I say put them in charge of p&r!
 

Eric1955

Well-Known Member
I already gave my review in the chit chat thread but I thought I'd share it here.

I went see Tomorrowland today and I thought I'd give y'all my review of it. Don't worry I won't give any spoilers. When I first heard about the movie I was really excited about it and had high expectations. However, when the trailers came out for it my expectations plummeted. The Japanese trailer gave me some hope for the film but I honestly went into the theatre today with very low expectations. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the film. I actually thought Tomorrowland was fantastic and I will be purchasing it when it comes out on Blue-ray.

The film was far from perfect and I can think of several ways it could have been better. I was very disappointed that mentions of Walt (as seen in the Japanese trailer) were cut from the film but I honestly wasn't surprised. Overall, I found the film very entertaining and I am highly recommending it. I also really enjoyed and appreciated the message of the film. We need to get back to the optimism of the past and start dreaming about great big beautiful tomorrows again rather than resigning ourselves to a dystopian future. The attitude that we can't make the world a better place will be a self-fulfilling prophesy. It's time to dream big again. I find the theme of the film ironic given the current state of Disney, but I'm gonna give Disney lot of credit for actually making the film.

Given the horrible marketing the film has received I don't expect it to do well but I really hope to be proven wrong. It's a big thumbs up for me.
 
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Eric1955

Well-Known Member
Critics only seem to like movies that push some particular point of view or that are "edgy" which usually means trashy.

Tomorrowland was definitely pushing a particular point of view but it was a good one that the critics for the most part have disagreed with. The critics have been way too cynical. It's sad really. They're attitude has been exactly the attitude the film was trying to say we need to get away from.
 

Tigger1988

Well-Known Member
Maybe critics were expecting another kind of movie or something?
Probably because the past two years they've been hyping it as a different kind of movie.

They cut the plot points that most people found noteworthy about it...so not sure why anyone is surprised it's being panned.
 

KCheatle

Well-Known Member
I loved how it started. In fact, my favorite part of the movie was "there's a great big beautiful tomorrow." But, multiple times as it was going, I thought "okay...where is this going now??" In the end, I think it pulled itself together, but was it a great movie? No. But, did it have a great message? I think so.
 

Shaman

Well-Known Member
The movie was ok. Not great, but not horrible. I saw this at a 10am Saturday showing, room was about 90% filled, which was surprising. The kids I noticed, seemed to like it and didn't seem as restless as some of the adults.

I feel as if the editing really did this movie in...not sure I like the narration stuff at the beginning or all that exposition at the end. The story had weak moments though.

The concepts were great. Walt would've approved of the message of the film (maybe not the execution).

Acting, visuals, music, effects were all really good...in many ways make up for the deficiencies in the script and pacing.

I thought removing the major Walt references was a good call. The more subtle references were already distracting enough.

The Director's Cut should be interesting.

Watch it.
 

FutureCEO

Well-Known Member
I didn't see it....not going to but whomever does Disney movie marketing should be fired. They didn't make the movie enticing enough. They never do. I can't remember the last live action non-Marvel Disney movie that was marketed well.
 

NMBC1993

Well-Known Member
I didn't see it....not going to but whomever does Disney movie marketing should be fired. They didn't make the movie enticing enough. They never do. I can't remember the last live action non-Marvel Disney movie that was marketed well.

I completely agree with firing whoever is in charge of their marketing. It seems like the only thing that team is good at is sending the wrong message for the tone of the film.
 

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
Probably because the past two years they've been hyping it as a different kind of movie.

They cut the plot points that most people found noteworthy about it...so not sure why anyone is surprised it's being panned.

Well, that's a shame. I have heard that one of the reasons potentially-good movies go bad is because the non-talented executives that rule every movie studio can't resist trying to put their fingerprints on every production. To justify their salaries, I suppose. :p
 

Tigger1988

Well-Known Member
Well, that's a shame. I have heard that one of the reasons potentially-good movies go bad is because the non-talented executives that rule every movie studio can't resist trying to put their fingerprints on every production. To justify their salaries, I suppose. :p
Nope, Damon Lindelof is to blame for this one.
 

RobUK

Active Member
My thoughts:

- First third was excellent. I loved the build-up with young Frank, developing that set-up of Tommowland and all it entails. The shots of the Future Fair were all-encompassing and magical. It set the scene beautifully: a world of creativity, invention, and industry. I love how Casey's character's involvement in the world evolved, and loved everything right up until they got into the bathtub at grown-up Frank's house, after defeating the AA, and then...
- ...when the bathtub fired into the air I expected the main interaction with Tomorrowland and the story to really develop. It didn't - the landed in the lake. Which is ironic, as from that point on the film kinda drowned. The middle third just seemed to drag. You know a film's struggling when they throw in a landmark (the Tower) for no main reason than to distract you from nothing much going on. Saying that, though, I thought the story of the clever folk developing the pins/land was a grand idea;
- The final third for me was somewhere between the first and the second in terms of quality. After getting my head around the notion of what the machine/monitor was doing it all seemed a bit wordy and not exciting. The end talk and subsequent release of recruiters was well shot and developed though.

The film, for me, had loads of excellent ideas that should have formed a solid base for a clever story to be developed. Instead the concepts were let down with a meandering middle that did not really do much for me. The idea of a young robot, unable to age and feel emotion, dying in the arms of an older man who once loved her is clever if slightly uncomfortable for a family film. I liked the concept of the initial pins being merely live-action advertisements for a land that does not exist - a big dark con. Had the film somehow kept the Hugh Laurie character involved right the way through, in addition with more switching between the two worlds, then it would have been much better. But then, as others have said, how much was trimmed out? Also, was there a strict budget that meant only a certain amount of shots would be afforded? In addition to this, George Clooney is far too famous these days to the point that when he appears on screen it's hard to see past 'oh it's George Clooney' and actually see the character he's playing.

For a film I was so greatly looking forward to I was quite disappointed. At least the Inside Out trailer looked great!
 

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