Tomorrowland

As we continue on with the summer film season, things have gotten off to a somewhat slow start. I'm sure the momentum will pick up--we've seen "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Mad Max: Fury Road", so the big-budget films will start cranking out soon. We now have another typical summer flick to sink our teeth into, and it is the awaited "Tomorrowland"

Bound by a shared destiny, a bright, optimistic teen, Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor, Frank Walker (George Clooney) jaded by disillusionment embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory as Tomorrowland.
Basically when Casey discovers a technologically advanced pin that provides an astounding glimpse of the future, she enlists the reluctant help of Frank and subsequently Athena (Raffey Cassidy) to make Tomorrowland a reality in our world today. Can our world be saved from extinction by our own destructive devises, or are we destined to fail and find ourselves killing ourselves off the face of the Earth?

Others to round out the cast are Hugh Laurie as Nix, the baddie, Tim McGraw as Eddie Newton, Casey's dad, Kathryn Hahn as Ursula, Keegan-Michael Key as Hugo, Chris Bauer as Frank's dad, Thomas Robinson as Young Frank Walker, Pierce Gagnon as Nate Newton as Casey's young brother, Matthew MacCaull as Dave Clark and Judy Greer as Mom.

This was directed by Brad Bird ("The Iron Giant" '99, "The Incredibles" '04, Ratatouille" '07, "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" '11) plus TV, and where he excels with animated films, he excels even more with live action films as well. Some of the lines seemed a bit over-the-top, but this being pure fantasy with some comedic moments, this became permissed. It was written by Damon Lindelof, and Bird based on a story by Lindelof, Bird and Jeff Jensen. As I had tremendous respect for the premise here, the execution could've been more polished--possibly too many hands in the pot, writing wise. The idea was intriguing, but wading through the choppy areas, a bit of lack in continuity, etc., it soon developed into a story that was, at times, difficult to follow. Overall it was scripted well, however there could've been less choppy areas so as it would allow the story to flow much easier.
Where this actually soared was that of the visual effects predominantly designed by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic), but I'm sure you already knew this before entering the multiplex. The futuristic sets were sharp, clean and believable of how future design might look. This is definitely an interesting view and concept on Disney's Tomorrowland at Disneyland.

Remember when "Pirates of the Caribbean" was released and many thought that a film based on a theme park ride would die in the box office? Well, we have that same concept in this film, so if "Pirates" proved those individuals wrong, maybe the same thing will happen this time around. You be the judge.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                               Rated: PG                              130mins.