Tomorrowland Review

[Disneyfanman]

There were a ton of great moments wrapped up in a below average film. We thought Clooney was a great choice, as were most of the actors. It was a script problem. I wanted soooo badly to love Tomorrowland. It wasn't boring..............it was preachy and poorly written.

 

[RandomPrincess]

I enjoyed it and want to see it again. Not sure how good it was yet. One thing I know for sure the girl who plays Athena is AMAZING! And George Clooney is a really good actor they managed to pull off some scenes that could have been icky if acted wrong. The scene in the shop was cheesy to me.

 

[Frankie The Beer]

I liked it, in fact I liked it more than Avengers 2. Won't see it again, but its not a bad film by any stretch.

 

[Daniel Johnson]

We went to the theater with the intention of seeing it, standing in line to get tickets I caught a convo between two ladies, obviously waiting for their husbands. Both were in Disney garb and said basically what you all seem to say here, it seemed to not go anywhere and waabt what they had expected. Then the husbands walked up and were saying how good mad max was...we saw it instead.

I was hoping tomorrowland would be better, enough to get me to pay to deal with going to a movie theater. On the one side, mad max was amazing, but I've always enjoyed that franchise. I was hoping for the same enjoyment we have seen as of late from Disney. But, I'll have a friend with a screener copy of tomorrowland by the weeks end and watch it at home.

 

[Figments Friend]

I loved *Tomorrowland*.
Cannot wait to see it again...hopefully this week.

I am thrilled and actually somewhat surprised that the Disney of today actually made this film and took a risk.
No *formula* story here...i found the plot to have a lot of interesting twists and turns and outright surprising moments.
It is not a movie for everybody, but for those that *get it*...WOW...inspiring stuff.
I am still mulling it over in my head....and i love films that have me continue to think about them long after i left my theater seat.

Thought provoking
Inspirational ( especially if you are a *dreamer* or *doer*, too )
Moving at times ( films closing moments in particular )
Interesting characters
Stunning futuristic settings in Tomorrowland proper
Great film scoring soundtrack ( and i am not just talking about the Attraction song clips! )


There was one point in the film when things seemed to go adrift and my attention wavered a little, but overall it had my full attention from the get go.
I would highly recommend people interested in it to ignore the negative reviews floating out there in the media and go see the film for yourself.
Make up your own mind....but do go in with a open mind.
I found it to be a great experience worth re-visiting.


I do agree that the marketing for the film was strange for the US.
The US pre-release trailers all made the film look like the next James Bond picture...or your typical quasi-spy-action-semiadventure type of movie.
When i saw the Japanese trailer...whoa....totally different vibe and approach.
Really convinced me i needed to see this.

*Tomorrowland* is a winner with me.

 

[Shaman]

I am thrilled and actually somewhat surprised that the Disney of today actually made this film and took a risk.

I feel the same. If for no other reason, I think people should go watch this movie, because in many ways it's the anti-blockbuster. Original, scifi, philosophical, and not really dumbed down.

As for marketing, they had me at the moment when Casey picked up the pin. The visual effect was beautiful.

It's far from perfect, but it's a good film. It's different. And in today's Hollywood that's a good thing.

 

[216bruce]

I loved *Tomorrowland*.
Cannot wait to see it again...hopefully this week.

I am thrilled and actually somewhat surprised that the Disney of today actually made this film and took a risk.
No *formula* story here...i found the plot to have a lot of interesting twists and turns and outright surprising moments.
It is not a movie for everybody, but for those that *get it*...WOW...inspiring stuff.
I am still mulling it over in my head....and i love films that have me continue to think about them long after i left my theater seat.

Thought provoking
Inspirational ( especially if you are a *dreamer* or *doer*, too )
Moving at times ( films closing moments in particular )
Interesting characters
Stunning futuristic settings in Tomorrowland proper
Great film scoring soundtrack ( and i am not just talking about the Attraction song clips! )


There was one point in the film when things seemed to go adrift and my attention wavered a little, but overall it had my full attention from the get go.
I would highly recommend people interested in it to ignore the negative reviews floating out there in the media and go see the film for yourself.
Make up your own mind....but do go in with a open mind.
I found it to be a great experience worth re-visiting.


I do agree that the marketing for the film was strange for the US.
The US pre-release trailers all made the film look like the next James Bond picture...or your typical quasi-spy-action-semiadventure type of movie.
When i saw the Japanese trailer...whoa....totally different vibe and approach.
Really convinced me i needed to see this.

*Tomorrowland* is a winner with me.

Pretty much verbatim my feelings about it. The only disappointment I had was the glossing over of the backstory which is very substantial and detailed (read the prequel book!). Apart from that, it's wonderful and much more unique in a lot of ways than I thought it would be. The mixed reviews and negative thoughts about it that I've read actually tie-in to the message and even the plot points of the film. The biggest problem that it will have is that it isn't negative and is for 'optimists' or at least optimist wannabees. Very, very good. I do hope that there is a directors cut with backstory stuff taking a higher profile. To me, that is the most wonderful part of the whole story.

 

[dweezil78]

One great big beautiful UGH from me. Such a bummer. So much potential, but the movie was so so weak and shallow. It could have been so much smarter and I don't even mind the message (in fact, I love the message) -- but they clearly underestimated the intelligence of the audience and felt the need to spell it out for everyone in giant letters.

First third of the movie was a lot of fun. Lindelof is great at setup. But he bombs every single time at landing the plane. For a movie called Tomorrowland, we get very little Tomorrowland. Other than the bit in the beginning, the city (or whatever you call it) was empty and lifeless. It was just a backdrop with no-depth or purpose.

And here's my biggest beef with Tomorrowland that no one seems to be mentioning...

Spoiler: PLOT SPOILERS - BEWARE

It is a literally hodgepodge of later-sesaon storylines from Lindelof's LOST with a futuristic skin put on it... mostly consisting of Season 5's "WE HAVE TO GO BACK!" storyline, a "special chosen-one" who never really proves to be anything all that special ala Walt (Casey), and finally a ham-fisted conclusion about good/evil in a bottle (optimism/pessimism from a satellite...whaaat??).

This could have been such a mind-bending timey-wimey rollercoaster of a movie. With such a great setup aimed at Disney/retro-future geeks, they seem to have sprinted away from such an amazing premise into something that was more of a roadtrip movie with elements of T2 using repurposed Lost scripts.

Very sad.

 

[devoy1701]

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.

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!

Hey @Tigger1988 , what were some of the plot points they edited out? I didn't follow the making of this film too much, so I wasn't aware of what they were originally putting into the story vs what we ended up with. I copied both you and @RobUK 's responses because I agree with both of you. I thought it was an OK film with moments of greatness...some good visuals, some great dialogue, but leaving me wanting a lot more. I like how Rob put it into words with the landing in the lake reference.

I would have liked to see more development of Frank. I agree that the first 1/3 of the movie was great. But once Frank got to Tomorrowland, I would have loved for them to build that out more. I wanted to see more innovation and invention, show how society was different in Tomorrowland vs the real world, show us how Frank came to be exiled instead of just having Frank tell us he was. Show us how Nix came to his view on humanity vs just telling us about it. I just expected to spend more time in Tomorrowland instead of spending all of our time trying to get there. I thought the basis was strong and some of the script was thought provoking. But the final film spent WAY to much time building up to the issue. Once the problem was actually explained, I would have liked to see more time devoted to solving it...instead of Casey just "having an idea" and having the rest be history.

@RobUK - The older man reminiscing on his childhood love was definitely a little uncomfortable!

btw...when I left my 3-star review on Fandango, I had read another review (a 5-star) that said "everyone leaving a less than 5-star review is missing the point of a Disney Movie...they're not supposed to be heavy on plot and underlying meaning... I wish there was a "reply" function on Fandango...smh.

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

Loved the concept, but honestly - why was everything so on the nose? The message, the motives, exposition. Jeez, for a movie dealing with optimism it sure felt like they were being pessimistic about its audience's intelligence.
Pros: Great casting, loved the creativity, the visuals, the spin on "it's a small world", the Space Mountain cameo, the geeky references only us Disney dorks could get, the hopeful message. Hopefully if a sequel is made, some fine-tuning will be done because the potential is there for great stuff.

 

[216bruce]

Just some follow-up for folks who weren't all that excited about the movie. I don't mean any snark here, just some info. What did you expect it to be (if you had expectations)?

 

[Figments Friend]

I feel the same. If for no other reason, I think people should go watch this movie, because in many ways it's the anti-blockbuster. Original, scifi, philosophical, and not really dumbed down.

As for marketing, they had me at the moment when Casey picked up the pin. The visual effect was beautiful.

It's far from perfect, but it's a good film. It's different. And in today's Hollywood that's a good thing.

Completely agree.
This is a 'one off'....and that uniqueness is part of the appeal for me.
I could totally get into a continuation of the story here, or perhaps a prequel.

Going to see it again Friday if things go to plan.
Really, really looking forward to it.
It is a rare film that draws me back to see it on the big screen at a theater.

 

[Figments Friend]

Pretty much verbatim my feelings about it. The only disappointment I had was the glossing over of the backstory which is very substantial and detailed (read the prequel book!). Apart from that, it's wonderful and much more unique in a lot of ways than I thought it would be. The mixed reviews and negative thoughts about it that I've read actually tie-in to the message and even the plot points of the film. The biggest problem that it will have is that it isn't negative and is for 'optimists' or at least optimist wannabees. Very, very good. I do hope that there is a directors cut with backstory stuff taking a higher profile. To me, that is the most wonderful part of the whole story.

Yes, agree with what you are touching on here.
One of the biggest complaints, or disappointments i am hearing from people who did'nt like the film was that they felt there was not enough time spent in the actual Tomorrowland setting.
They were expecting more to happen there in that fantastical place...and the 'teaser' at the beginning left them wanting more.

In the context of the story, that is EXACTLY how you should feel...because one of the points of the story is to inspire people to strive towards that utopian setting.
You need something to inspire the 'exceptionalists', 'optomists' and 'dreamers' to GET to that utopia..and showing a pristine, fantastic place eventually left in ruins should spur those who 'believe' to work on making that brilliant vision a reality.
At least, that was my interpretation of it.

I totally picked up on that when we arrived at the dilapidated, neglected version of the City later in the film.
Seeing that once brilliant place left to fall apart immediately made it clear they needed 'new optimists/dreamers' to turn it around and make it beautiful again.

I might be alone, but i saw some real parallels between this and what became of EPCOT Center.
Think about it.
Started off as this great, futuristic inclined place designed to inspire those who visited with it's selection of displays, technology, shows, and setting.
Slowly over time that bright future thinking was eroded, and in it's place was left the Theme Park shell of it's former glory...today's 'Epcot'.
Maybe i am just reading far too much into it....but i made a real connection there.

 

[Figments Friend]

Thought i would share these here....a look at the two 'freebies' that were given out at some theaters when you bought a ticket on opening weekend.

I did manage to get one of these the night i saw the film -
The special 'E-Ticket' card.
These were be being given out to tie in with a promotion being run by Twitter where they were encouraging ticket holders to take a 'selfie' of themselves holding this E-Ticket and sending it in.
The prize was a autographed 'Tomorrowland' movie poster.







Here is the promotional pin that some theaters were giving out this past opening weekend.
My particular place did not have these, and it's no wonder.
EVERYONE is looking for these that is a fan of the film...moreso now it seems.

It would not surprise me at all if some theatre workers just scooped these for themselves to sell on eBay.
This is where i ended up getting mine, for $12.

 

[216bruce]

Yes, agree with what you are touching on here.
One of the biggest complaints, or disappointments i am hearing from people who did'nt like the film was that they felt there was not enough time spent in the actual Tomorrowland setting.
They were expecting more to happen there in that fantastical place...and the 'teaser' at the beginning left them wanting more.

In the context of the story, that is EXACTLY how you should feel...because one of the points of the story is to inspire people to strive towards that utopian setting.
You need something to inspire the 'exceptionalists', 'optomists' and 'dreamers' to GET to that utopia..and showing a pristine, fantastic place eventually left in ruins should spur those who 'believe' to work on making that brilliant vision a reality.
At least, that was my interpretation of it.

I totally picked up on that when we arrived at the dilapidated, neglected version of the City later in the film.
Seeing that once brilliant place left to fall apart immediately made it clear they needed 'new optimists/dreamers' to turn it around and make it beautiful again.

I might be alone, but i saw some real parallels between this and what became of EPCOT Center.
Think about it.
Started off as this great, futuristic inclined place designed to inspire those who visited with it's selection of displays, technology, shows, and setting.
Slowly over time that bright future thinking was eroded, and in it's place was left the Theme Park shell of it's former glory...today's 'Epcot'.
Maybe i am just reading far too much into it....but i made a real connection there.

Great point about EPCOT...didn't think of it, but yeah...so true along with the world (I'm looking at you USA) in general. I just don't get the vibe I hear from folks that the movie looks 'boring', 'stupid', 'silly' or, most ironically 'unbelievable' (but I guess the Avengers and Mad Max are plausible??). By the way...read the prequel book http://www.amazon.com/Before-Tomorr...8&qid=1432740943&sr=1-1&keywords=tomorrowland
Its excellent and makes you wish they'd had done more backstory.

 

[216bruce]

Thought i would share these here....a look at the two 'freebies' that were given out at some theaters when you bought a ticket on opening weekend.

I did manage to get one of these the night i saw the film -
The special 'E-Ticket' card.
These were be being given out to tie in with a promotion being run by Twitter where they were encouraging ticket holders to take a 'selfie' of themselves holding this E-Ticket and sending it in.
The prize was a autographed 'Tomorrowland' movie poster.







Here is the promotional pin that some theaters were giving out this past opening weekend.
My particular place did not have these, and it's no wonder.
EVERYONE is looking for these that is a fan of the film...moreso now it seems.

It would not surprise me at all if some theatre workers just scooped these for themselves to sell on eBay.
This is where i ended up getting mine, for $12.

NICE! I did 'the right thing' and went to a locally owned cinema chain. Got a free small popcorn because it was Tuesday...oh well.

 

[Figments Friend]

Great point about EPCOT...didn't think of it, but yeah...so true along with the world (I'm looking at you USA) in general. I just don't get the vibe I hear from folks that the movie looks 'boring', 'stupid', 'silly' or, most ironically 'unbelievable' (but I guess the Avengers and Mad Max are plausible??). By the way...read the prequel book http://www.amazon.com/Before-Tomorr...8&qid=1432740943&sr=1-1&keywords=tomorrowland
Its excellent and makes you wish they'd had done more backstory.

Awesome Bruce...will definitely keep my eye out for that book!

If you see 'Tomorrowland' again, go in thinking about the EPCOT Center point i was talking about.
I am sure you will pick up on it like i did in some of the scenes.
We could use some 'optimists' to go in and 'fix' Epcot today...big time!

 

[dweezil78]

SPOILERS BELOW... SO READ WITH CAUTION. (Sorry I feel like if I hide it all w/in the tags it just never gets read haha)

Glad to hear people dug the movie. I just can't shake the disappointment. It's just not a movie about Tomorrowland. It's a movie that teases Tomorrowland but ultimately gives us an empty wasteland of futuristic looking desktop wallpaper devoid of people and purpose inhabited by a villain who's not really a villain but more of just a cranky dude. Where did all the inhabitants of this land go? We don't know! Why aren't they invited back but instead replaced with a bunch of rando people? We don't know! Why wasn't Tomorrowland opened up to everyone in the end? Wasn't that the goal before it all went to hell?

The way the characters practically explain the 'message' to the audience is insulting as is the way they felt the need to have robo-girl explain to us what went down with Frank as if we were too dumb to figure it out.

Still have no idea why Casey was so special other than she wasn't a total bum-out of a human being. Because obviously all of those people they brought in at the end weren't nearly as special as her. Oh wait, they were because they HAD ACTUAL SKILLS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE WORLD and not just flying drones to malfunction equipment. But hey, good on her, because she was optimistic.

Ok... I'm done. The movie really sucked and I am clearly very resentful of it!!!

 

[mf1972]

saw the movie last night, & I didn't think it was at all. it was entertaining enough to hold my interest. I took it for what it was.
did notice some "Easter eggs" in that sci fi shop. saw the iron giant & 1 of the incredibles (brad bird reference).

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I saw it yesterday and although I didn't love it I really liked it, not enough for a second theater viewing (although I'd happily go if a friend wanted to see it) but enough I'll definitely get the Blu Ray and am excited to watch it again.

I loved that it's original, in a year filled with fast and furious 7, minions 3, jurassic park 4, star wars 7, mission impossible 6, marvel 9, etc, etc it's refreshing to see an original concept. I enjoy sequels and spin offs but it's nice to walk into a theater not having Amy idea what to expect. I also loved the message, the actors, the overall story, and the visuals.

I did think it had some pacing issues and also thought the story had some holes but they weren't so major they took me out of the movie and I walked out of the theater thinking about changing the world and being positive. I always give a movie bonus points if I leave thinking about the concept or idea behind the movie more than the movie itself.

I don't think it'll make anyone's all time top 10 list but I really liked it and think it's definitely worth a couple hours of your time.