Tomorrowland

[sjankis630]

I just went to see this movie late Thursday night and was disappointed. This is a kids movie - specifically for those kids who are interested in bettering themselves with an age group from say 9-14. I think any kid under that would be confused by the story (or bored) and any kid older than that - that has not been living under a rock - will be bored with it.
So this is not like a good Pixar movie where kids and adults can enjoy it on different levels.
Any Clooney fans out there planning on seeing this with your kid because - Clooney - you may want to rethink your choice.
This is in no way a typical Clooney type film and he is really only a costar. He is decent in it, but any competent actor could have done the same.
This is a story about how a young girl is called upon to help save the world but somehow manages to make that not seem as important, funny, or particularly interesting throughout the film.
There are some strong performances here - these kids have talent - it is just the story seemed muddled to me. The film starts out OK, then gets off track somewhere in the middle and then ends on a preachy note. Again it never seemed like the film knew what kind of movie it wanted to be - funny, serious or thoughtful - it does all but none particularly well. Also coming in around 2 hours doesn't help much.
Apparently the film cost $190m to make but for the life of me I cannot see that in the film.  
Has anyone else seen this and what is your opinion? Surely I am an old crotchety curmudgeon yelling for the kids to get off of my lawn.

[missjennifer]

I saw it about a month ago. I admit it has its flaws (mainly, not filling in some stuff), but overall, I liked it. I REALLY liked the message that both hope and despair can be self-fulfilling prophecies (which wolf do you feed?). It really is a shame that a movie with the welcome message of "all right, already, enough with the dystopias" didn't do well while a dystopia like Mad Max thrives.

But there was one change I would have made, and one thing I really wish they'd have followed through on. (Spoiler text...)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Maybe it's my affection for Hugh Laurie talking, but I'd have liked to see his character as less outright villainous. There are those that said, and I'm not sure I disagree, that if the message of the movie was hope it should have included Nix as well, and given him a shot at redemption. That would have meant removing most of the blood from his hands, having his androids memory-wipe rather than kill cops and guards, but it might have been worth it.

More to the point...you know how in the beginning, we were meant to think Athena was Nix's daughter? Well, what if they'd taken that and run with it? Have her call him "Daddy" from the get-go, and have him show her real love and affection even when he's being dismissive with Frank. Then, after Frank's gotten into Tomorrowland, Nix is still reluctant to have him there, but his daughter's pleading softens him--it's clear he can deny her nothing. (Ironic foreshadowing line when he says ruefully, "Pet, you're going to be the death of me.")

I'd have found ways to show his love for her throughout--maybe one of the things in that memory-recorder-type-thingy Casey looks at would be a scene between Athena and Nix where she's upset that Frank has found out she's an android and calls her a "lie" and says she's not really Nix's daughter. He comforts her: "It's the same thing I hear from my colleagues...all those 'Geppetto' wisecracks they think I don't know about. If you'd been an orphan my wife and I adopted before she died, everyone would consider you our child. So why are you any less so when we created you in love, as any couple does, even if she never lived to see you? When I made you look like the two of us, made your eyes like hers? I love you as no father ever loved his daughter--is that a 'lie'?...Oh, pet, I never should have given you the ability to cry. It kills me."

In this scenario, she wouldn't have fled for her life, but snuck out of Tomorrowland against her father's wishes. His efforts would be as much to bring her home safely as to stop what she's doing. Then, when they get there, his relief and joy are obvious. Put in an extra scene or two where she tries to get him to see the truth, but for the first time, he denies her, saying, "Why bother with them, sweetheart? They've brought it on themselves, and if they find out about this place, they'll only ruin it as they have everything else. We have everything we need right here! Everything will be like it was before!"

If they'd let that idea develop instead of dropping it...then the ending would have been DEVASTATING. Nix's extremism has led him to try to kill his old friend rather than see him try to save what Nix thinks shouldn't be saved...and Athena takes the shot instead. And Nix's My God What Have I Done moment is EPIC...horrified, devastated, he realizes, too late, that "feeding the wrong wolf" has led him to destroy the one person he loved. Athena, in her last speeches, would express love and forgiveness for her father, and tell him "it's not too late." (And, after she's gone, he breaks down sobbing. Casey looks at this man who would have been willing to let the world die...and sees only a broken man and bereaved father. She goes to him and puts her arms around him.)

Thus redeemed, he would survive (even if it meant losing the rather funny moment of his last words). He'd take part in the speech at the end (still wearing black, a year later), telling the recruiters how important it is not to give up or lose hope, since doing so "cost me more than I will ever be able to say."

(Of course, if I wanted to make the ending less King Lear and more A Winter's Tale, I'd include a mid- or post-credit scene where it's revealed that Frank, Casey and Eddie have been able to download Athena's memories into Athena 2.0, surprising Nix with it after a Secret Test Of Character where they get him to accept this "orphan refugee" without revealing her face...)

[velveeta]

When the movie was over, my one kid said "That was good!" and the other one replied "Yeah, it was! Now... what went on?" Cracked me up forever. Later, I was trying to give her an overview of the plot points and got completely confused and realized either the plot didn't exactly make a ton of sense, or I'm just not smart enough...

I had a really hard time with Tim McGraw as a NASA engineer, but maybe that's just me.