Review: Clooney leads cast of Disney’s ‘darn near perfect family film’ Tomorrowland — no ‘grown-ups’!

George Clooney, right, stars in Disney’s Tomorrowland. (Photo from Facebook)

By James Halcomb
Special to NKyTribune

Tomorrowland is a great family film. A great family, fantasy/sci-fi epic; the story is told in a heavy-handed kind of way but sometimes the simple stories, told in extraordinary ways, make for a great movie. I know that Tomorrowland is such a film.

Now, am I attaching a lot to a film that has George Clooney and jetpacks? Yes, because similar to another film of wild-eyed optimism and a sense of adventure and fun, was another Disney film, The Lone Ranger. The movie was an absolute blast; it had a lot of heart and was a monstrous throw-back to a very different age of movies. The Lone Ranger was deemed a flop before it hit theaters and was never really given a chance to find an audience. The same appears to be happening with Tomorrowland, and I think that is a real shame.

Tomorrowland is a futuristic land where Newton, played by Robertson, is transported when she touches the pin. (Photo from Facebook)

The film begins in flashback to the New York World’s Fair in 1964. Young Frank Walker (played as an adult by George Clooney) has a mysterious encounter with a spritely young girl named Athena (Raffey Cassidy) and David Nix (played with pure old-school mustache twirling villainy by Hugh Laurie) and is recruited for a mysterious project called “Tomorrowland.”

Skip forward to somewhere near present day, Cassie Newton (Britt Robertson) is a not-so rebellious but reckless teenager. She feels the need to make the world better, but has yet to find a productive way to channel the absolute force for good that she is. She keeps this in the face of a father (country star Tim McGraw) who is about to lose his job as a NASA engineer, and helping him raise her little brother.

Cassie is given a “Tomorrowland” pin from Athena, strangely un-aged, but has no problem hot-wiring a car and has some serious kung-fu skills. From there, we are given lots of cartoon explosions, vehicles chases, robots and just a lot of really amazing eye-candy from director Brad Bird.

Bird has yet to make a bad or disappointing film; he made one of the best super-hero films of the last decade or so with The Incredibles; he made one of the best – if not the best – of the Mission Impossible films in Ghost Protocol. He is still firing on all cylinders, and the film shows his real passion for the project.

Hugh Laurie plays the villain in the sci-fi epic, Tomorrowland. (Photo from Facebook)

The films performances are solid; Clooney is the physical embodiment of the “gruff” look. On the other hand, Laurie is just as great as the villainous Nix and has an incredibly on-the-nose (or preachy) monologue that does seems to hold the films break-neck pace a bit, but I still think it works. Female lead Robertson does a lot more reacting than acting and shouts… a lot. The real find for me was Raffey Cassidy who at approximately 13 years of age, is in need of her own action franchise ASAP. She has some great banter with Clooney and is mature in her demeanor well beyond her years and steals every scene she is in, especially with Robertson.

Tomorrowland is a darn near perfect family film, which I think is great for a kid over 7. Parents: leave your egos at the door. Admittedly, the film may have played or initially been written as an animated feature, but I found the films aesthetic fun. This movie is not for the cynic or the grown-up. If you watch Fox News or MSNBC as entertainment, then this isn’t for you. Tomorrowland is an exciting movie that may have over-reached with its lofty inspirational goals, but at least the filmmakers reached for something with the hope of entertaining and inspiring others.

James Halcomb is a self-described “desk jockey” at UK Hospital. The Lexington resident has spent much of his 40 years with his nose in a book, his eyes staring at a screen, ears covered by earphones or his mouth stuffed with food. As a result, he is an avid film nerd, TV geek, food snob and book buff. He is a member of the Appalachian Writers Association and contributing writer for The Good Men Project. He lucked into meeting the love of his life, Tammy, and married her. They have a 5-year-old-son, Quinn.