‘Tomorrowland’ Review Roundup: George Clooney Sci-Fi Thriller Gets Mixed Notices

Tomorrowland, starring George Clooney and Britt Robertson, draws its inspiration from the future-themed lands in Disney parks around the world, and explores a vision of the future in which a forward-thinking utopia exists.

Frank Walker (Clooney), a onetime inventor whose grand plans have given way to pessimism, meets a teenager named Casey (Robertson), who might be exactly what Walker and Tomorrowland needs. With her help, Frank could be able to get Tomorrowland to use the power of its knowledge to once again help the people of the world outside its borders.

‘Tomorrowland’ Reviews

From the trailers, Tomorrowland looks like it might be just another summer blockbuster, busting at the seams with special effects and lacking sufficient dialogue to convincingly link one sequence to the next. However, critics are saying that in place of action, Tomorrowland features a great deal of ideological conversation about big ideas. While some critics praised the film for its conscience, others felt as though the film was too disjointed to be meaningfully affecting.

“Tomorrowland is a wonder. As a film, it’s filled with the sort of laughs and action and sci-fi hijinks guaranteed to keep frothy summer minds glued to the screen. And yet at the same time, it occupies moral high ground and is as brutally honest as any popcorn film in memory. It confronts things we as a people, a nation, a species, don’t want to confront. And that’s the point…. Come for the humor and thrills and visual delights — there are many. Leave with the thought in your head: We can, we need to, do better. This is summer moviemaking at its best.” – Tom Long, The Detroit News

“A well-oiled machine of visuals, and yet a wobbling rattletrap of storytelling, the sci-fi fantasy Tomorrowland is an unwieldy clunker driven into the ditch at full speed. Injured in the accident were George Clooney as a boy inventor turned adult cynic, Britt Robertson as a spunky teen optimist, Hugh Laurie as a generic villain, and many viewers. “Tomorrowland,” for all its pictorial gloss, goes back to the future badly.” – Colin Covert, Star Tribune

“Tomorrowland is not disappointing in the usual way. It’s not another glib, phoned-in piece of franchise mediocrity but rather a work of evident passion and conviction. What it isn’t is in any way convincing or enchanting…. Perhaps Tomorrowland should not be blamed for succumbing to the poverty of vision it works so hard to attack. Maybe the forces of negativity are just too strong. But it’s also possible that the movie is confused about how to imagine and oppose those forces.” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“In a junk-food summer, Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland is a defiant carrot stick, a blockbuster adventure flick where the message is “Think smart.” … The odd thing is I suspect an inspirational movie like Tomorrowland will turn off audiences who just want to see a time-waster that doesn’t shame them for throwing recyclables in the trash. That’s a pity…. Bird has made a film that every child should see. And if his $190 million dream flops, he’ll be asking the same question as his movie: When did it become uncool to care?” – Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times

Tomorrowland, directed by Brad Bird, is currently in wide release.