Brad Bird's new directorial venture is about creativity, imagination and sanguinity. It is truly a Disney utopian rollercoaster embellished by abundance of chases and action sequences. Bird serves it all in a golden plate full of splendor garnished with opulence and flamboyance. With Tomorrowland, Disney formula seemed to have worked really well. But, it doesn't come without its share of flaws. Even George Clooney doesn't get ample scope to perform.
The screenplay by Bird and Damon Lindelof will leave you discontent. The formula of baffling the audience by a meandering screenplay doesn't work really well here.
The film opens up with a sombre looking Frank Walker (George Clooney), addressing the camera. He says that the world is about to end and the countdown to doomsday is on.
The movie soon travels back to 1964 World's Fair. The young Frank, played by Thomas Robinson, arrives at the fair to demonstrate the jetpack that he's made to a shady David Nix (Hugh Laurie). The jetpack doesn't work well. He gets rejected by Nix, but Athena (
Frank then follows Athena and Nix, only to reach the futuristic metropolis, called 'Tomorrowland'.
The movie demands you to be in-the-moment rush from this point onwards - followed by jetpack rides, ethereal trains, diaphanously dressed women and ostentatious towers.
If you want to enjoy this rollercoaster, which is a sheer feast to the eyes, you must lose your critical senses to go with the flow from this point onwards. As the premise is set, the film loses the track completely. The movie engages the audience with a bunch of mundane conversations and enthralling action, which sadly is not aligned with the climax.
The film meanders and meanders to a point of exhaustion. The scenes of Casey Newton, played by Britt Robertson, are absolutely delightful with an element of originality. Her chemistry with her younger brother Nate Newton (Pierce Gagnon) is pure and likable.
On the other hand, the screenplay comes up with an unconvincing plot bearing no relationship with all the twists and turns throughout the movie.
The story fails to capture the background of Frank and his failure, which made him so disgruntled. Who is Frank otherwise? A surrogate?!
The actors did quite good job. It is Robertson who will leave the audience stumped with the portrayal of a young science whiz. She has a great screen presence. Cassidy is also a revelation. Her scenes towards the end will leave you teary-eyed. She injected a significant amount of energy into an otherwise mediocre role. Clooney is cool but couldn't help lift up the convoluted plot. The supporting cast is adequate.
I want to acknowledge Gagnon for playing the role of a confused younger brother with supreme deftness. He delivered more than what was expected.
Brilliant!
Tomorrowland ends up being a simpler and colourful version of Interstellar. A movie with so much potential is spoiled by a weak plot and pathetic story build-up. The movie is not half the fun it could've been - thanks to Lindelof and Bird. It is a classic case of an otherwise good movie blemished by a knotty story.