Disney has been very secretive about this summer's original sci-fi tentpole, TOMORROWLAND, from the minds of Brad Bird, Damon Lindelof and Jeff Jensen and now that I have seen it, it's no wonder because the picture just doesn't work.

 

It starts off all wrong with a close-up of George Clooney's Frank Walker trying to start the story as Britt Robertson's Casey Newton continually cuts him off and tries to correct him. Someone thought this was cute. It's not. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard. I wanted to scream, "Just start the movie!"

 

When they finally do it's the 1964 World's Fair and Frank is a child with an invention that he hopes will win him a prize. When it's revealed to be a rocket pack it immediately brought back memories of THE ROCKETEER. And in subsequent scenes, Director Brad Bird is clearly going for that gee whiz, wide eyed, joyous tone. But he just never lands it. I felt no connection with Thomas Robinson as Young Frank, so I don't know if it is his performance, the writing or the direction but it doesn't click.

 

Eventually the story jumps ahead to modern day and focuses on Casey Newton and the picture finally comes to life for a while. Robertson is spunky and adorable as Casey. You would follow her anywhere. And she nails that wide eyed wow when she finds the Tomorrowland pin and begins to explore it. Her first trip to Tomorrowland is one of the picture's highlights and it is a dizzying wonder as she explores this magical place. Robertson, best known for TV's UNDER THE DOME is clearly a movie star.

Early on in the story we are introduced to Athena played by Raffey Cassidy. She reappears in modern day and is a wonderful, charismatic, scene stealing character. Her rapport with Casey is fun and is another of the picture's highlights.

 

It is really fun to see a toy and memorabilia shop that is full of characters from actual film and television as opposed to some kind of knock-offs that are done for rights reasons. And the set piece there starts off interesting, but gets way over the top and leads to a series of scenes where Casey and Athena encounter robots. Everything is big and loud. And this lasts for most of the picture as it hurtles from one set piece to another. It's like Bird is tone deaf here, which is sad coming from the writer/director of THE INCREDIBLES, one of Pixar's best features.

 

Casey meets Clooney's Frank Walker in this section of the picture and things do not get any better. Clooney usually makes great choices when it comes to material so it was no surprise to hear that he was working with Brad Bird on a top secret film. But sadly, Clooney is one of the worst things about TOMORROWLAND. He never seems to invest in his character. Instead of Frank being a cranky, cantankerous curmudgeon, Clooney just seems to be "playing" one so it's all surface and you never buy it.

 

When Frank takes Casey and Athena to Tomorrowland, it is via one ridiculous, convoluted means of transportation after another. There is a great stop at the Eiffel Tower where we learn its back story which involves some major historical figures. It is fascinating. But that leads to the biggest, most ridiculous sequence of the picture which makes absolutely no sense.

 

After spending way too much of the story on these big and loud, tone deaf sequences of trying to get to Tomorrowland, the main characters finally arrive and are greeted by Hugh Laurie's David Nix. He too seems to be phoning in his performance. He is supposed to be an intimidating character who may just throw them right out of Tomorrowland. But he is a bore. Aside from one great speech, Laurie does nothing with this role. 

 

This Tomorrowland is dull and lifeless compared to the one that Casey visited about an hour previous, but there was no explanation as to why it was different. Eventually we learn why our characters have come here and what the crisis of the story is. That discovery is executed really well. But so much screen time has been wasted that everything seems rushed. 

 

Suddenly it's the climax and instead of what perhaps could have been a battle of words and ideas, we are subjected to another big and loud action sequence. Watching Clooney and Laurie roll around and fight is just sad. And it seems like the filmmakers have run out of ideas.

 

Things get resolved and that leads to a very bright and hopeful epilogue that ends the picture on a high note. While I don't know that there is more story to tell, this certainly sets up a possible future for this as a franchise.

 

MINOR SPOILER ALERT
 

This really bugged me so I want to address it. Athena hides a Tomorrowland pin amongst Casey's belongings. Casey finds it, is wowed by it, and uses it to eventually make her way to Tomorrowland. Later, Athena scolds Casey for not waiting until she could show up and educate her about it. If Athena wanted to educate her, why not just give Casey the pin? How was Casey supposed to know when she found the pin that a recruiter would show up and explain everything? And later other candidates all find pins amongst their belongings, so this is clearly an intentional process - hiding pins so that candidates can discover them. But if that's the process, why wouldn't you expect them to use the pins to discover Tomorrowland? Scolding Casey made no sense. And at the end of the day it's just bad writing.
 

END SPOILER ALERT

 

I'm very conflicted about whether or not to recommend TOMORROWLAND. It is certainly a major disappointment from Director Brad Bird and it is shocking how tone deaf most of the picture is. It confirms for me that seeing Damon Lindelof's name on a screenplay is not a positive thing.  However, Britt Robertson is fantastic as Casey and I loved Raffey Cassidy's Athena. I also loved the amazing young actor Pierce Gagnon from LOOPER as Casey's little brother Nate, though he doesn't have very much screen time. If you're an avid moviegoer, it's worth seeing TOMORROWLAND on the big screen. If you're more discerning or you're looking for something spectacular, it's probably not for you.