My friend, a Disney fanatic, and I, a sci-fi enthusiast, both really wanted to like Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland, but we ended up regretting forking over the money for a Southpoint matinee. Lead actors George Clooney and Britt Robertson suffered under the weight of annoying, clichéd character development and dialogue. Tim McGraw also inexplicably makes an appearance as the protagonist’s father, and, embarrassingly, out-acts Robertson herself. The production design was well-executed and interesting, but not enough to save the convoluted plot and overdone message. The movie is clearly inspired by Steven Spielberg’s style, but lacks his narrative talent. I would not recommend the movie for adults or children—any child young enough to overlook the trite moral agenda and poor acting will be too frightened by super-strong and fast malevolent robots, and at two hours and 10 minutes, the film was way too long for both the adults and kids in the audience.
– By Frances Beroset