First major review of "Tomorrowland"

Finally saw it today in IMAX and pretty much came out the comparatively empty theatre ending up exactly where Variety did.

This was a film that feels like it was put together by committee, ergo, an ambitious but failed attempt to merge too many thematic elements (moral message vs. action movie vs. saga of personal redemption vs. sci-fi). What I particularly did and didn't like:

:) The imagery of the 1964 World's Fair. For those of us old enough to have been there, the setting and art direction was absolutely spot on.
:sad2: George Clooney: capable actor but with a very narrow range: as usual, he played the somewhat compassionate but overly self assured Mr. take charge, which is what he's done in just about every other movie he's been in. Or put another way, I felt a lot of his performance here was phoned in.
:) The introduction of hunter-killer robots right after the destruction of the retro sci-fi shop. Just the right amount of creepiness.
:sad2: The meandering "journey" of the main characters during the second third of the film. The whole Paris tangent felt like "we need something to put into this section of the script" filler.
:sad2: The weak villain character. His moral preachy stuff near the end didn't cut it as the basis for cunning, horrific motivation, instead coming off something created late at night in a Hollywood conference room, by desperate writers anxious to check a box.

I suspect the now 49% figure on Rotten Tomatoes relates to all of the above. And I agree with previous posters here who state this film is a long, difficult haul for younger children. Given many adults are having a tough time figuring out this movie, kids almost never will.
 
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Just saw it this morning with the fam.....Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it...A few hints of the past were kinda nostagic, and coulda had a few more ,but all in all I think it was well done..:thumbsup2
 


While watching the interactions between some of the characters, especially Clooney and Robinson, I wondered how they could even keep straight faces rattling off all that ridiculous dialogue.
 
While watching the interactions between some of the characters, especially Clooney and Robinson, I wondered how they could even keep straight faces rattling off all that ridiculous dialogue.

Was it really any worse than a lot of action or sci-fi films? I liked Age of Ultron, but I don't remember that having better dialogue. I guess it all comes down to personal opinion, so replying is probably unnecessary to this point. I found it to be mostly smart, but put together in a way that wasn't filled with technical jargon.
 
Was it really any worse than a lot of action or sci-fi films? I liked Age of Ultron, but I don't remember that having better dialogue. I guess it all comes down to personal opinion, so replying is probably unnecessary to this point. I found it to be mostly smart, but put together in a way that wasn't filled with technical jargon.

Nope, it's probably not worse than those types of films, but most of those types of films are pretty bad. I haven't seen the second Avengers movie, but I enjoyed the first. It wasn't a great movie, but it kinda knew what it was and went with it.
 


I finally saw it and I loved it. Sure, it had problems but what movie doesn't? I was on the edge of my seat the whole movie wondering what went wrong and how they could fix it. But more than that, i loved the message of the movie. For me, it was inspiring. I message about never giving up, even if you're not sure it's going to pay off. Instead of wondering what might happen if we fail, instead we should wonder what might happen if we succeed.
 
I finally saw it and I loved it. Sure, it had problems but what movie doesn't? I was on the edge of my seat the whole movie wondering what went wrong and how they could fix it. But more than that, i loved the message of the movie. For me, it was inspiring. I message about never giving up, even if you're not sure it's going to pay off. Instead of wondering what might happen if we fail, instead we should wonder what might happen if we succeed.

Glad to hear it! I think one reason a lot of us are responding more positively is the message, which also really struck a chord with me.
 
While Tomorrowland is holding steady at 49% on Rotten Tomatoes, the box office has fallen way off, down to $14 million and now far below San Andreas (which in the last week outsold Tomorrowland by almost 280%) and was edged out of spot #2 by Pitch Perfect 2. :lmao:

And the film marketing commentary universe is already concluding that this latest attempt by Disney at producing a blockbuster is going to end up being a financial disappointment for the company. In fact, the analysis in the first link below makes a compelling argument that Tomorrowland will actually lose more money than John Carter did.:scared1:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollyw...looks-like-a-historic-box-office-catastrophe/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/25/tomorrowland-box-office_n_7436274.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/tom...e-it-was-not-the-movie-we-were-led-to-believe
 
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The Brietbart article was already shared and is ridiculous. There is no doubt Tomorrowland is not doing great, but it is WAY too soon to try to say it is going to lose more than John Carter. Two of those articles go nuts about it being environmentalist. The examiner says, " ...is little more, when all is said and done, than an environmentalist wacko screed" The third article, by Huffingtonpost, does not make such premature projections and is more reasoned.

The movie mentions global warming twice, maybe 3 times, as one of the many things that are wrong. But I didn't think it was about wacko environmentalism at all. I wonder how many went crazy about the movie like the two authors who frothed at the mouth over global warming.
 
It's Brietbart...and you're looking for level headed, actual journalism?
 
The Brietbart article was already shared and is ridiculous. There is no doubt Tomorrowland is not doing great, but it is WAY too soon to try to say it is going to lose more than John Carter.

Are you saying it is ridiculous to point out the total investment Disney has made in this film is around $250 million? If so, you are in denial about the scale of current film production and marketing costs.

Are you saying it is ridiculous to reference the industry standard that for a film to break even, it must gross 2x its total budget and that Tomorrowland must therefore gross somewhere between $450 and $500 million before it starts earning a penny for Disney? If so, you are saying every seasoned ROI expert on film investment is wrong.

And are you actually saying it is ridiculous to point out that to date Tomorrowland has already opened in pretty much every major market (Japan and Brazil just started) and has grossed only $133 million? There is nothing "ridiculous" about stating facts, but it is ridiculous to criticize that.

And are you saying it is ridiculous to project that the likelihood of Tomorrowland grossing anything near $450+ million is shrinking by the hour? If so, then you may want to read up on the sales curves of films, especially ballyhooed ones that open on Memorial Day.

And lastly, are you saying it is ridiculous to state John Carter, which was the biggest flop of 2012, actually almost broke even (total cost $300 million and earned $284 million) and that is is very, very very likely that Tomorrowland will end up becoming the biggest money loser in Disney film history? If so "When You Wish Upon a Star" must be what the staff in Burbank is singing right now, because wishes are all they have left, in terms of this film ever getting anywhere near break even.
 
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I took my kids to see it, my daughter who is 7 found a "Tomorrowland pin" oddly enough about 2 days before we went to see it. My 13 yr old son was reluctant to see but wasn't opting out because we were seeing it at the dine in theater which he loves. We didn't realize the significance of my daughter "finding the pin" until we saw the movie. The explanation and how the pins were given was a beautifully optimistic storyline which my daughter basked in. She turned to me and said "Mom, I was chosen".:hug: We are all used the the action adventure good vs evil plots, but this was about hope and having dreams and making them a reality not letting your circumstances destroy what you believe can be achieved. Both my kids walked out and said wow it was a pretty good movie, it was a great story.:thumbsup2
 
Are you saying it is ridiculous to point out the total investment Disney has made in this film is around $250 million? If so, you are in denial about the scale of current film production and marketing costs.

Are you saying it is ridiculous to reference the industry standard that for a film to break even, it must gross 2x its total budget and that Tomorrowland must therefore gross somewhere between $450 and $500 million before it starts earning a penny for Disney? If so, you are saying every seasoned ROI expert on film investment is wrong.

And are you actually saying it is ridiculous to point out that to date Tomorrowland has already opened in pretty much every major market (Japan and Brazil just started) and has grossed only $133 million? There is nothing "ridiculous" about stating facts, but it is ridiculous to criticize that.

And are you saying it is ridiculous to project that the likelihood of Tomorrowland grossing anything near $450+ million is shrinking by the hour? If so, then you may want to read up on the sales curves of films, especially ballyhooed ones that open on Memorial Day.

And lastly, are you saying it is ridiculous to state John Carter, which was the biggest flop of 2012, actually almost broke even (total cost $300 million and earned $284 million) and that is is very, very very likely that Tomorrowland will end up becoming the biggest money loser in Disney film history? If so "When You Wish Upon a Star" must be what the staff in Burbank is singing right now, because wishes are all they have left, in terms of this film ever getting anywhere near break even.

You didn't read my post above. No to most of those things. Tomorrowland is clearly doing poorly and may not make a profit - based on guestimates, anyway. What is ridiculous is the vitriol, hate, and political ranting, not to mention silly statements about how home video is dying because movies are so bad nobody wants to watch them twice. Really? That is a silly obviously untrue statement that reflects poorly on the author as ranting rather than writing. Also, it is still a bit early to label it one of the greatest flops of all time. At the time of writing it had a number of places to open yet and it may or may not have some legs. The ranter's position is clearly more about hate of a perceived political slant, rather than a factual position. Tomorrowland may very well end up being a big flop. However, the bombast undermines any factual arguments he may have had.
 
I think that it'll be hard for this one to find legs with all that's coming. However bad it flops, I think that it's about done.
 

I really liked your article and I really liked the movie. I have wondered for a while now how children, teenagers, and young adults can have any hope when their entertainment consists of so many movies and novels with dystopian themes. Your point regarding how ironic it is that some consider this movie "another liberal propaganda campaign" echoes my thoughts exactly.

I felt that the imagery of Frank standing in front of Casey in a protective manner at different times reinforced an overall theme of selflessness in the movie and was a subtle but brilliant touch. DH & I enjoyed Raffey Cassidy's portrayal of Athena.
 
I saw it last night and really enjoyed it. It did feel a little preachy towards the end, there were more subtle ways to get the message across. But I liked it all the same.

Being a lover of WDW I loved the start at the World's fair with "great big beautiful tomorrow" playing :)

I may never look at Small World the same again though...
 
We saw this with our 9 year old granddaughter. It was a OK movie but I was expecting more! I would rate it a 70 out of 100. Our GD thought it was OK also!
 
I think that it'll be hard for this one to find legs with all that's coming. However bad it flops, I think that it's about done.

Good point. Even though the initial reviews on the new Jurassic Park sequel are mixed, it is still going to suck more oxygen away from Tomorrowland, which is already fading quickly (has fallen to 7th place in box office and pulled only a little over $7 million last week):

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/
 

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