Tomorrowland (6/10): An imaginative film that runs out of steam during the second half

“I want you to take me to the place I saw when I touched this.”

After having seen the trailer for Tomorrowland, I didn’t have very high expectations for it, but once I heard Brad Bird was directing this project I knew I had to see it because everything he had done up to this point was amazing. Ratatouille is one of my favorite animated films and The Incredibles was also an entertaining one. I have heard great things about his first animated film, Iron Giant, but I haven’t seen it. Tomorrowland is his second live action film after having directed the latest Mission Impossible sequel which was also quite impressive (that Abu Dhabi scene was breathtaking), so there was no reason for me to doubt Bird and I was ready to give him my full support. I’ve got to give him a lot of credit for taking a risk by directing this unique project instead of accepting to make the Star Wars sequel, and in a way Tomorrowland feels refreshingly original. Bird also co-wrote the screenplay along with Damon Lindelof (one of the writers of my favorite TV series, Lost) so I raised my interest again considering they were involved. Unfortunately this is by far Bird’s weakest film, but I still had a decent time at the movies. 

The film opens with Frank Walker (George Clooney) speaking directly to the audience and explaining what the future holds for the planet in a rather pessimistic tone, but he is constantly interrupted by a young teenager named Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) who wants him to be more optimistic. So Frank begins by explaining that the future wasn’t always as bad as it looks now, and in a flashback we are introduced to that time when as a young boy (Thomas Robinson) he invented a jet pack in order to try to impress a judge at a science fair named Nix (Hugh Laurie). The only problem was that it didn’t actually fly so Nix wasn’t impressed. However, he did catch the attention of a young girl, Athena (Raffey Cassidy), who gives him a special pin and asks him to follow them from a distance. What Frank discovers is a fascinating futuristic place where all dreams are possible. Somewhere along the way something goes wrong and we are back in the present where we are introduced to Casey’s story. She also discovers a pin similar to the one Frank was given and is fascinated by the visions she gets of this wonderful place. Destiny will lead her to search for Frank and try to find a way to return to this place, but along the way she experiences several setbacks as many people try to stop her from reaching him.

Tomorrowland begins with a very promising and gripping first half and I was completely engaged with the story. The visuals were impressive and the action scenes very entertaining. Britt Robertson was delivering a strong lead performance and the quest to reach Tomorrowland felt incredibly refreshing and unique. She shared a strong chemistry with George Clooney and her upbeat optimism contrasted perfectly with Clooney’s pessimism. There is no denying the level of ambition this film has, but unfortunately the second half of the film doesn’t deliver on the promising premise and the ending was very bland. My interest fell completely and I lamented the fact that the film couldn’t maintain that same level of intensity delivered during the first half. Hugh Laurie is a great actor, but as the antagonist he never really felt the part. The film ran out of steam and imagination pretty quickly and delivers a somewhat predictable and uninspired ending. 

The film is also pretty heavy handed in delivering its upbeat message (which is recurrent in most Disney movies) of never giving up on your dreams and being optimistic towards life despite all the negative things surrounding us. The fact that there have been tons of films reiterating the “you are special” message to young adolescents also hurts the movie quite a bit. But I did have a great time during the first hour of the film so I’m still going to give it a mild recommendation. Rafael Cassidy delivers one of my favorite performances of the film as Athena. Matthew MacCaull also has a couple of hilarious scenes playing a Secret Service agent. Tommorowland could’ve been a great film, but it runs out of imagination pretty quickly and settles for a lackluster ending. 

My Review: Star Trek Into Darkness (9/10)

¨You think your world is safe? It is an illusion. A comforting lie to protect you. Enjoy these final moments of peace. For I have returned to have my vengeance.¨

First off I have to say that I loved J.J. Abrams´ reboot of the Star Trek franchise in 2009 and I was highly anticipating this sequel. I had my reservations of whether or not Abrams was going to be able to maintain the same level of success he achieved with the prequel since the originality and freshness of the characters was going to be gone. It is much easier to reboot a known franchise and make it fresh with the introduction of new characters and letting us know how everything began (sort of like what Batman Begins did), but it is much more difficult to make a worthy sequel to such a beloved prequel. Somehow I think Abrams managed to pull it off once again by introducing a great villain and maintaining the freshness of the original film with some great chemistry between Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto along with the rest of the crew. At many points during the movie it even felt like a buddy comedy instead of a blockbuster sci-fi action film, but then Abrams managed to mix it all together quite nicely. It may be much lighter than The Dark Knight, but I felt he did something similar to what Christopher Nolan did with his trilogy by giving us a great villain and giving the movie several layers. This sequel may even be better than the prequel although many people may disagree with me. At least I think Abrams was able to maintain the same level of entertainment once again. This is a very fun and engaging movie with some great characters and spectacular visuals. This is the best film I´ve seen this year and by far the most entertaining one. I was never a big fan of the Star Trek TV series or the original movies, but I was completely hooked with the reboot and Abrams once again teams up with screenwriters: Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci to give us a gripping script with some great twists that Trekkies will probably enjoy. I don´t want to give away any spoilers, but if you´ve seen the film you know what I´m talking about. Star Trek into Darkness is the most fun I´ve had in theaters this year.

The movie takes place one year after the events of the prequel as we follow the crew from the USS Enterprise and their Captain, Kirk (Chris Pine), as they encounter new missions into foreign galaxies. In their latest mission they are trying to save a civilization from a volcano eruption without them knowing of their presence. Kirk and his First Commander, Spock (Zachary Quinto), manage to save the planet, but Kirk does so by breaking some rules. This doesn’t go well with Spock who despite being saved doesn’t agree with breaking protocol. When they arrive back to Earth, Spock informs their bosses and Kirk is discharged from the fleet. While this is taking place a former member of Starfleet, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), bombs an installation in London and later attacks a high ranking officers meeting at the Starfleet headquarters before managing to escape. Pike (Bruce Greenwood) is killed during this incident and Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) reinstates Kirk as Captain of the Enterprise in order for him to hunt down the terrorist. And so the new mission begins with Kirk and Spock back together again with the rest of their crew: Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Bones (Karl Urban), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin), all looking for revenge.

The relationship between Quinto and Pine´s character was probably the highlight in the prequel, and here once again we get to see how their relation has developed over time. The scenes they share together are really entertaining, but the supporting cast is exceptional once again with Simon Pegg and Karl Urban giving the funniest performances and lightening up the mood. Cumberbatch makes for one of the best villains I´ve seen this year and his performance is incredible. The twist with his character is really clever and it made me want to go back and watch the original films. The film is so good because it focuses on the characters and their relationships more than on the action and visuals, which are incredible nonetheless. I really look forward to what JJ Abrams and his crew are going to bring to the table in the Star Wars franchise because what they have done here was spectacular by combing comedy and sci-fi action. I am a huge fan of pretty much everything Abrams has done, ranging from what he did with the Lost series to his latest film prior to this one: Super 8. It will be very hard for another summer blockbuster movie to top this one this year. It has really raised the standard and the bar for the upcoming movies. Please go watch this film, you won´t regret it.

  

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: Prometheus (9/10)

¨How far would you go to get your answers?¨

Prometheus is one of the best movies of the year and in my opinion one of the best science fiction films I`ve seen in a very long time. The visuals were incredible, the characters interesting (very strong performances from Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace), and the suspense was very intense. I was at the edge of my seat during most of the film and was really impressed with the movie overall. I had seen the trailer and didn’t really expect much, since I`ve never seen the Alien films and had heard this was an Alien prequel. However, despite not seeing Alien I have to say that the film works on its own independently. I do want to go back and watch those films now because Ridley Scott did such a great job with this movie. Scott became a household name in 1979 when he directed the first Alien film which became an instant cult classic and followed it up with another great science fiction movie, Blade Runner. Since then his movies have been either hit or miss, with some great titles like Thelma and Louise, Matchstick Men, and Gladiator, and others not as good. He has directed several different genres, but there is no doubt that when it comes to science fiction he brings out the best. His latest film, Robin Hood, wasn`t received very well, although I did enjoy it quite a bit, but not nearly as much as I did Prometheus. The script for this movie was written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof (the writer of my favorite TV series, Lost), and for many it was the weakest part of the film, but I did enjoy some of the dialogue and the philosophy behind it considering this is a science fiction film.

The movie takes place in the year 2089 when two archeologists, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), make an important discovery in a cave somewhere in Scotland. They find ancient hieroglyphics similar to others they`ve found in different unconnected regions of the world from different eras and times. They automatically assume that this has to be a sign that we were created by some sort of a higher being, which they call ¨Engineers¨. The hieroglyphics consist of men signaling towards five stars that are exactly in the same position, which scientists later discover to be in a very distant galaxy with a solar system similar to our own. Elizabeth and Charlie convince a wealthy man named Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) to finance a trip to this planet in order to search for answers about their existence. A crew of 17 members all financed by the Weyland Company travel to this distant planet on a spacecraft named Prometheus. They are put into hyper sleep during the voyage which takes more than two years, while a human like android named David (Michael Fassbender) makes sure everything is running smoothly. Once they reach their destination, David wakes everyone up. The captain of the ship is Janek (Idris Elba) and they all follow orders from Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) who sends the exploration crew out to find any sign of life outside and commands them not to speak to anyone until they return to the ship. The film slowly builds the suspense and tension from this point on as they end up finding something very different from what they were searching for.

There are plenty of scares and thrills in Prometheus and the tension is very well constructed, unlike recent horror films where you have hardly any build up to the story. Many people complain about the script, but I thought it was really well developed with interesting characters and situations. Michael Fassbender gives perhaps the best performance of the film with a very intriguing character who you never know whether you can trust him or not. His performance is among the best I`ve seen this year. Noomi Rapace also gives a very strong performance as the strong female lead role. She proved she can play these difficult roles before (from the Swedish Millennium trilogy) and she is someone to keep an eye on. Idris Elba had some small scenes, but he is always great. Charlize Theron gives a very good performance as the sort of cold and distant Vickers. You never know whether she`s human or an android because of her distant nature, and there is even a joke about it in the movie. The rest of the cast was alright, but never up to par with Fassbender and Rapace. Some of the scientists do act rather immaturely, but I guess that is always a must in science fiction horror films. You always have to have those annoying characters which you don’t really care for or mind having them killed off. Perhaps I enjoyed this film more than others since I haven’t seen the Alien films and didn’t have my expectations as high as them. I will definitely go see those movies now, and I wouldn’t have a problem watching this film all over again.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com