Tomorrowland
1.5 Waffles!

This is the most disappointing George Clooney movie since Solaris, and, unlike that movie, no naked Clooney tushy will appear to save it for those who are interested in seeing such things.

Clooney stars as Frank – a boy genius inventor drafted to become part of the future. Unfortunately, after spending time growing up in the future and crafting all sorts of inventions, he was banished back to the present day, and told to never let anyone know what he has seen, nor should he make any attempt to return.

Britt Robertson stars as Casey – a brilliant kid from Florida who is the latest, and last, recruit for the future. She is not sure what she has seen or why she is supposed to go there, but Casey wants to be part of this magical place. To get there, she will need Frank, who is very resistant.

Why has Casey been recruited?

Can Frank get back to the future?

Does he want to?

Tomorrowland turned out to be the dumbed down version of everything I hoped it might be.

Writer/director Brad Bird, along with co-writer Damon Lindelof, seems to have great ambition for Tomorrowland, but the deeper themes about hope and destiny are buried underneath a bunch of silliness and action designed to appeal to kids.

Bird and Lindelof take much too long to get to the point of the story because they must fill Tomorrowland with all sorts of special effects to cover up for the lack of plot. It’s a film moving at a snail’s pace as we are subject to a great deal of exposition to explain who Frank and Casey are, but Bird and Lindelof dance around the reasons why they must come together and conquer some horrific mistake made in the future. Instead, we get a succession of hint after hint, which doesn’t add mystery to this film. These hints frustrate because we are ready for the reveal far before it happens.

At first, this long exposition feels like an attempt to make Tomorrowland magical, but the magic wears off quickly as you realize this is a journey to nowhere. Instead of being blown away by how wondrous the future appears to be, you might be tempted to start checking your watch (or to start counting the people walking out like they did when I saw the movie).

Then, this magical tone is interrupted by robots and silliness reminiscent of a bad Saturday morning kids show from the 70’s (which is insulting to Sid and Marty Krofft, so I apologize to them).

Tomorrowland would be a disaster if it wasn’t for Robertson, Clooney and Raffey Cassidy, who plays a young lady who must recruit the people who can make a difference in future.

Robertson fills Casey with all sorts of spunk required of a Disney ingénue, and makes me wish I was back in college, so my little crush on her was less creepy. Sure, she overdoes it too many times, but that is direction from Bird, and not her fault as an actor.

Then, Clooney somehow scavenges some special moments for Frank as he digs through the script’s scrap heap to add little touches that prove what a great actor he can be, like the moment Frank decides he needs to help instead of resist, or his emotional delivery of one of the movie’s climactic (but kind of awkward) moments.

Somewhere in this Tomorrowland was the potential for a better Tomorrowland, but the opportunity was missed.

Tomorrowland is rated PG for sequences of sci-fi action violence and peril, thematic elements, and language.