SUMMARY
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In a way, Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland is the perfect film to see after George Miller’s spectacular Mad Max: Fury Road.
Bird’s film, inspired by one of the more iconic sections of Walt Disney’s famous theme park, has a version of the future that is the total opposite of Miller’s bleak and hopeless dystopia. The film itself is fueled by wonderment and delight, with its villains sporting wide smiles and all the courtesies in the world before attacking, as opposed to the grave savagery that is the norm for survival in Miller’s post-apocalyptic Australia.
Tomorrowland is the yin to Fury Road’s yang. It is not as fun an experience, but its rich ideas, telegraphed by Bird’s enthusiastic and sincere depiction of wide-eyed idealism, is a welcome breath of fresh air in a market brimming with glittered despair and destruction.
Funhouse ride
The film is structured like a simplified version of Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, with teen genius Casey (Britt Robinson) passing off as a young Dorothy whose Oz is a futuristic city she glimpses upon touching a pin she’s chanced upon. In her efforts to reach that paradise, she meets two other characters – Athena (Raffey Cassidy), a surprisingly strong girl without a heart, and Frank Walker (George Clooney), a grumpy mid-aged man without hope.
Nix (Hugh Laurie), reminiscent of Oz’s authoritarian wizard, governs the futuristic city with an iron fist, recruiting maniacal robots to keep order. As it turns out, Casey’s party is not wanted in the city, causing them to be hunted.
That is basically the bulk of the film, which is designed primarily to have the same feel of a fun house ride. Its chases and obstacles have all the energy and excitement that is to be expected from a blockbuster flick, but unfortunately without any of the palpable danger or urgency. At the end of almost every action sequence, Casey would giggle with glee, a reaction that seems more appropriate at the end of a rollercoaster ride rather than in a life-threatening race.
Ideas instead of characters
Tomorrowland’s biggest fault however is not its inconsequential action. It is that its main characters are more representations of ideas than actual human beings.
In fact, the film opens with two narrations, first by Frank and then by Casey, as to how they got to where they are. More than just a device for the film’s viewers to figure out their backstories, their introductions detail how the characters represent two ends of a spectrum, with Frank being the pessimist and Casey the optimist.
The film plays around with extremes. Its characters’ interactions are centered on how unlikely they are as teammates, with Frank being humorously cranky and cautious of Casey’s frenzied curiosity.
If there is one character who pushes Tomorrowland to explore more intriguing territory, it is Athena, who hints of a complicated relationship with Frank that echoes dilemmas above and beyond the simplistic theme that Bird espouses in his tale. Athena seems to be designed to be the heart of the film, the type of sidetracked heroine whose evident imperfections turn her to be the most relatable character.
As Disney as it gets
Bird’s genuine earnestness, thankfully still apparent amidst all the film’s bells and whistles, saves the day. None of the film’s overly buoyant displays border on being too saccharine to the point of suspicion. Bird sculpted Tomorrowland the same way he did The Iron Giant (1999), The Incredibles (2004) and Ratatouille (2007), grounded by unwavering dreamers who are up against odds that seem bigger than their dreams.
The film is as Disney as it can get. Bird is the perfect mouthpiece of the conglomerate that has been made incredibly wealthy by selling commodified happiness. Tomorrowland is such a bundle of good cheer, steering away from the cynicism that has been rendered commonplace by the type of summertime spectacles we have today. – Rappler.com
Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ ‘Tirad Pass.’ Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema. Profile photo by Fatcat Studios
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