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USD $1 ₱ 56.28 0.0000 March 27, 2024
March 26, 2024
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A Big, Hopeful Heart Helps ‘Tomorrowland’ Overcome An Awkwardly Built Narrative

It asks audience to move to another dimension, to accept the possibility of simply fixing things by rejecting the inevitability of our own destruction.

Tomorrowland positions itself as remedy to a world that has become obsessed with Armageddon. This might seem like a lofty endeavor, given that this is just a PG-rated action adventure movie, but the fact that its head is in the clouds may be part of the point. The film stumps for the kind of thinking that goes well beyond the bounds of conventional reality. It asks audience to move to another dimension, to accept the possibility of simply fixing things by rejecting the inevitability of our own destruction. The movie that surrounds this thinking has an oddly shaped narrative, and is at times slowed down by its preaching. But its big, hopeful, space-age heart leaves a strong impression.

Tomorrowland is a secret city in another dimension that is home to many of Earth’s greatest thinkers, the city giving them free reign to pursue their biggest ideas. Casey (Britt Robertson), a teenage girl with big dreams and a penchant for rejecting the inevitable, is mysteriously granted a pin that allows her a glimpse of this secret city. Casey decides that she wants to go to Tomorrowland, and attempts to find some way in. Her quest leads her to Frank Walker (George Clooney), an inventor who was once thrown out of Tomorrowland. From him, Casey learns the dark truth about Tomorrowland, and is then burdened with the responsibility of trying to save it.

The plotting is a little messy. So much of this film is about getting to Tomorrowland, and not enough of it is about being there, about experience the joys of this idealistic vision of the future. For most of its lengthy runtime, the film only hints at some sort of crisis originating from the secret city. By the time it is finally revealed, it ends up feeling like a real letdown, the movie rushing through a burst of late conceptual exposition that never quite lands as a real narrative concern.

But the film is often a pleasure, anyway, because of its unique perspective. This is a story borne out of clear frustration with cynicism. It extols optimism above all things, praising the people who can imagine a world that solves its many problems. It rightly points out that we are now living in a media landscape that seems to barter exclusively in fear, one that has created a feedback loop that turns the warnings of impending doom into a self-fulfilling prophecy. The film gets into an awkward rhythm as it preaches this particular thought, but it thrives when it shows us the alternative.

The alternative is built on characters. There is Casey, wonderfully played by Britt Robertson, who meets the unknown with a yearning to understand. As a teacher rambles on about how Huxley, Orwell and Bradbury were prescient with their literary dystopias, she asks the question, “Can we fix it?” There is Frank, an older man clearly worn down yet still possessing a young boy’s spark. As played by Clooney, Frank alternates bursts of clear regret with open amazement. And then there is Athena, played by Raffey Cassidy, who exudes a clear belief in people that is altogether endearing. These characters, existing in this strange world of wonder ably brought to life with Brad Bird’s energetic direction, point the way towards the film’s better tomorrow.

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Like the imaginary city itself, Tomorrowland is built on ideas. It gets fuzzy in the specifics, the narrative not as structurally sound as it could be. The story is awkwardly shaped, and gets pretty bumpy as it heads into its conclusion. But in spite of all that, the movie is bracing and inspiring. Its ideas and its vision are big enough that the details don’t matter as much. It is a film that ought to only exist in a different time. But it is here, instead, dreaming big and earnestly pinning its hopes on the best that humanity can offer. Getting there can be a struggle, but that’s kind of the point as well.

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