TOMORROWLAND A WORLD BEYOND

I have to confess that going into this one I was not particularly optimistic given that I was not a particular fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean series (I liked the first one well enough though the rest were mediocre) which was based on a theme park ride . The idea of a film based vaguely on one of the themed areas at Disneyland (the titular Tomorrowland) did not exactly fill me with confidence. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the all-out commercial that I feared it might be. Much of this is because the film keeps itself focused on its characters and their goals (at least for the first half, but we’ll get to that). We get to see the mystery unfold through the central character Casey (Britt Robertson) who once she finds out about Tomorrowland’s existence is determined to go there. It also helps that the script has a good vein of humour running through it, the most effective examples coming from the verbal sparring between Frank (George Clooney) and Athena (Raffey Cassidy). This stops the movie from taking itself too seriously and ensures that when it does try for some tugging on the heart strings it does not come across as too forced. The main problem with Tomorrland is that it seems to lose the thread of its story just as it’s getting towards the climax. The ending feels very rushed and the main antagonist’s motivation (Hugh Laurie) doesn’t really make a great deal of sense. This is a shame because there is one very emotional scene in this part of the film that works very well and had it been part of a better-rounded finale could have ended things on a real high note. FINAL VERDICT 5/10 there is a good deal to enjoy in this film but the ending does a great deal to halt the momentum it has built up