When choosing between two Tomorrowlands, opt for the music festival

Tomorrowland (2015)

6.8/10 on IMDb
49% on Rotten Tomatoes
First things first, I was SO KEEN for this film (it was literally my most anticipated film of the year), because it was an original film that looked SO promising. Almost every 2015 film I have seen is not original (Insurgent - sequel; Cinderella - retelling; Avengers - sequel Pitch Perfect 2 - sequel; Mad Max Fury Rd - reboot), and the one original film I did see, Ex Machina, is an indie film that nobody watches. Jupiter Ascending and Chappie were original films too, but both of them were said to be quite bad, so I was so keen for finally an original, popular, and good film.

But you can see where I'm getting at... Tomorrowland was a disappointment. And I knew this going into the cinema, because I saw reviews on it that weren't that great, so I had lowered my expecatations. But, as we all know from our good friend President Snow, hope is the only thing stronger than fear. And so my hope for this film overtook my fear of it... and hope, I did. I really really hoped and wanted this to be an amazing film, but it just wasn't. And going from Mad Max: Fury Rd to this was so disappointing.

It's really hard for me to discuss this film without spoiling it, so what I will do is give a general review of the film here, and then elaborate on all my points later in the spoiler section.

So here are my concerns:

1. The opening scene was terrible, with cringe-worthy dialogue that set up the film for being an only-alright film. The dialogue throughout the film wasn't great either, but the opening was where it was worst.

2. The storyline was a bit weak and because of this, some elements of the film were confusing. The writing seemed really lazy and was lacking quality throughout. It's probably okay for a kid's film because they haven't grown to be so cynical, and they don't know what cheesy is anymore, but it was not okay for me.

3. I really did not expect the film that Tomorrowland was, and I think the main reason for this was because the trailer showed us so little. We were left to our own devices and imagination to come up with what we thought the film would be. The lack of plot information in the trailer gave us high hopes for this film, but the film took a completely different direction to what we were thinking of. The trailer, upon further reflection, almost showed us nothing. It didn't show any plot, and it showed all the good scenes that ended up being lost on us. The film becomes disappointing, not because it fails to deliver what was promised, but because it made no promises, delivers something completely random, and leaves you feeling empty.

4. Don't get me wrong, the acting was great, the directing was great too (all hail Brad Bird; please make Incredibles 2 amazing). They had some good fight scenes for a PG film. My main concern is the writing. It wasn't just weak, it was confusing. Bad confusing, not Nolan confusing. There were quite a few plot holes that detracted from the storyline. Also, the villain's reveal was really weak and didn't really make any sense to me.

5. The film felt really really long; so much was happening but nothing that happened had any real substance. It felt so long and dragged out for a two hour film; I was so tired by the end of it. I think this is also a result of the trailer not telling us what to expect.

6. The ending was soooooo in your face. Like, my face was so sore from being metaphorically punched with their preaching.

So overall, this is a kid's film. It's not really for adolescents or adults, and I wouldn't recommend watching this in cinemas unless you have a younger sibling. It's not worth buying on DVD because you won't want to watch it for a second time, so if you don't have a younger sibling, maybe catch it on TV or something. But if you miss it, then honestly don't worry, you're not missing out.

A few side notes:
–That opening Disney shot looked pretty cool, with the Tomorrowland skyline instead of Disney's traditional castle
-The music in this is pretty good
-Key from Key and Peele once again makes a cameo
-Why is Casey so cold? At one stage, I counted four layers on her and I'm pretty sure two of them were hoodies.
-"You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation, explain that one."
-Not an original quote, but I have always loved this: "There are two wolves who are always fighting. One is darkness and despair. The other is light and hope. The question is... which wolf wins? The one you feed."


~SPOILER SECTION (I'm warning you, I talk about the majority of the film here)~

1. The opening scene set us up for a mediocre ending. Throughout the film, there seemed to be almost no stakes involved because we knew they made it out alive and they solved the problem because we saw them in the beginning! The only stakes that existed were when Athena died. Also, the dialogue was just so terrible. Every time they had narration, a part of me died. Raffey Cassidy was the best of the film though, and I feel like all the good lines were given to her. She did such a great job, she's so cute!

2. When I say the writing seemed lazy and lacked, it wasn't just the opening that was bad. The whole film just seemed so... weak. For example, the most magical moment was when she first touched the pin, as we saw in the trailer, but in the film, this moment is lost on us because we had already seen Tomorrowland through Frank's childhood! We saw quite a bit of it actually! So there's no point having a tone of mystery and wonder (with a Wizard of Oz-esque shot) when Casey first touches it because, whilst she is seeing this world for the first time, we are not. The magic is lost on us.

I reckon they should have put all that stuff of Frank seeing Tomorrowland only after Casey first sees it. That way, the tone of mystery and wonder is actually relevant, and then they can start feeding us with bits of what Tomorrowland looks like.

3. So I don't know about you, but I really expected to see a lot of Tomorrowland. Like, a huge amount of this amazing futuristic and incredible world where anything is possible. But instead we got a flashback of it, a commercial for it, and then this bleak and desolate Tomorrowland that didn't live up to expectations. It would have been fantastic if they wrote the plot to incorporate more of heyday Tomorrowland.

4. As I said, the acting was great, particularly with Raffey Cassidy, she was so sassy for a robot (or rather, an Audio-Animatronic). But when I talk about writing being confusing... I'm still very confused as to what Tomorrowland actually is. Like, what is it? Is it the future? Well, no, it can't be because it's sold as an alternate universe. But then, is it an alternate universe? Well, it can't be, because then how do you explain why Tomorrowland is all grey and desolate? Why is it no longer in it's heyday? They imply that Frank's got something to do with it, but I don't understand how modern day Earth has anything to do with Tomorrowland.

At first I thought it was the future, because of it being destroyed, but then Hugh Laurie's character comes in and says he doesn't care about humanity wiping itself out and being destroyed. So it most definitely can't be the future, because if humanity wiped itself out, Tomorrowland would cease to exist. But then why is Tomorrowland not the utopia it once was? Did they explain it and I just missed it? It's very confusing.

Speaking of Hugh Laurie, his plan was not a great plan. I still don't know what his motive for being the villain is. He explained that he didn't want to continue saving mankind because they failed to want to save themselves, but here comes Casey, a girl who is the epitome of wanting to save humanity, and he doesn't care. Not only does he not care, he deliberately tries to stop her from saving humanity, but he doesn't explain why he is so against humanity.

5. (Pretty much self-explanatory there)

6. About the ending... like wow, we get it. Climate change sucks and it's real. And we can do something about it. The kids of today are the leaders of tomorrow(land). Yeah, we get it. No need to keep hammering it in. That entire speech was so preachy, I felt like I was in church. If they wrote the film better (once again, going back to the writers), it wouldn't have to seem so forced. I honestly walked out thinking, "Okay, so did Al Gore somehow manage to write the script for this? Did he look at An Inconvenient Truth and just go, "Hmmm... how do I translate this for kids?"" Because that's honestly what it feels like: An Inconvenient Truth for children.


A few more side notes (that fall under spoilers):
-I seriously thought he was going to just stay with Athena and get blown up together
-They were treading on some really thin ice in that part; there was some real dangerous territory the film could have gone into just before Athena died
-Her finding out how to arm the ball by looking at her future self in two seconds is completely cheating. Writers, you can do better than that, I know you can. Brad Bird, you wrote The Incredibles, pick yourself up.
-Athena's first dress is so cool; futuristic, yet vintage (and yes, I count anything with Athena as a spoiler because she's a surprise character)
-The surprise of Athena's character was so much better than the surprise of Matt Damon in Interstellar
-I like how her name was Athena; I know from my Greek Mythology class at uni that Athena is the goddess of tactile war and the divine protectress of heroes, so I liked that touch
-"I've figured out why you couldn't make me laugh." "Why's that?" "You're not funny." Boom. Was not expecting that.