Tomorrowland starts strong, finishes weak #FandangoFamily

Spoiler free! About 20 minutes into Tomorrowland I was disagreeing with the reviews I had read. There is something about a Disney film that is rumored to be bad that really brings the forks out in writers. For the record I loved John Carter, which was savaged and Real Steel, which was larelty ignored. Tomorrowland is not a hot Disney mess as someone called it, but it is a big Disney disappointment to moviegoers over 12.

What’s great about Tomorrowland is that it’s rated PG and the core of the plot has managed to be kept a secret. The plot certainly has something to do with the action that you see in the trailer, but that’s not the main point. Based on the trailer it’s borderline too much for children and looks like it should be rated PG-13.  I saw the movie with our five year old and it wasn’t too much for him.  The PG rating is warranted, they simple put the majority of the action/violence scenes in the trailer to demo it up a little bit.

However, one reason that I was hesitant to watch Tomorrowland is that, even by its name it feels like a giant Disney commercial. That concern was quickly put at ease during the film.  And while a couple of scenes do allude to Walt Disney World, it never actually takes place or is conspicuously filmed there.

Tomorrowland is the story of a teen girl, Casey who is trying to save her father’s job at NASA by sabotaging a launch site that is being torn down. She’s smart, curious-but nobody answers her question in school and she eventually gets into trouble.

From here she lands in jail and a mysterious pin is placed in her belongings. When she touches it she goes to a futuristic world where everything seems perfect.  If she lets go then she returns to her normal life in Florida.

Even after the first 40 minutes I was so glad that our five year old was with us. This will be his generation’s The Last Starfighter I thought. It’s action packed, futuristic, fast paced and has stunning visuals. This is amazing. The casting of Keegan-Michael Key as the manager of a collectible shop brought in humor and a brilliant dash of fun.

It was shortly after this time that Frank, the possible designer of Tomorrowland and Casey escape and Tomorrowland started to get slightly…empty. Granted things were happening, but they just didn’t measure up to the first third. They team up with Athena, who gave Casey the pin while she was in jail and try to find a way to Tomorrowland.

Here the film starts to pick up again, but don’t get used to it because it’s about to go off the rails. Once they arrive in Tomorrowland it’s an odd lesson of optimistic thinking, the flaws of humanity and proper planning. To adults, the last 30 minutes of Tomorrowland, except for the presence of Hugh Laurie will be a tired experience of things that you’ve seen dozens of times before with better results and less preaching.

I really wanted to like Tomorrowland.  Brad Bird is a great director and Ghost Protocol still ranks as a one of our favorite films on so many levels. The story is interesting and has lots of promise, but it never comes together. This is a movie that children will like and adults will tolerate.