"Tomorrowland" Is a Mess!

Hollywood has a Lindelof problem. I mean what movie (plus Lost) of his hasn't been a critical mixed bag? He's a conceptual hack coming up with interesting premises that lead nowhere. I have not seen Tomorrowland, but in the past Lindelof has always left me hanging or confused with disconnected plot points that have no follow through.

 

With all due respect, with no Clooney in this movie you probably could measure the gross in single digits.

 

Bates Motel is pretty consistent (and so was Lost, IMO).

 

Bates Motel is Carlton Cuse.

 

Apparently, Lindelof has been driven mad by fans about this in the past, to the point where he had to bail on Twitter some months back. So people have noticed that there's this problem: "mysteries without any clues."

 

oops.

 

I saw this yesterday. The first 15 minutes have such a smug, self-conscious tone that I feared the worst. This is before Britt Robinson's character appears and it's excruciating. But actually, the middle hour, focusing on Robinson on a zany earthbound caper, is good fun. But then it veers toward a very muddled conclusion set in Tomorrowland where an evil plan (the nature of which is unclear to me) is thwarted and a good plan (the nature of which is similarly unclear) is instituted.

In terms of story, it's more or less a cartoon version of Interstellar (which I also didn't like that much) with elements of Hugo uncomfortably jammed in. I did think that Britt had a winning presence, and there's one lengthy tracking shot set in Tomorrowland (hinted at in the trailers) that is beautiful. But the story is a mess and all the actors seem adrift.

 

So three terrible films

 

Interesting that you mention Verhoeven's Starship Troopers. IMO it's too on-the-nose in its satire to be a true artistic success (and too gory and nasty to connect with mainstream audiences), but no matter. When you mention how the people behind the scenes know a flop as it's happening, I'm reminded of something I read about the movie with which Verhoeven made his name, Robocop. Apparently almost everyone involved thought that was going to be a total disaster, a silly B-movie stupidly given an A-budget. Instead, it turned out to be a huge critical and commercial success, thanks to brilliant cinematography, editing, and post-production FX. So, sometimes, "nobody knows nothin'."

 

I think the R rating did not help. Note the later Starship Trooper movies were PG-13 and a little more kid-friendly. I liked the movie quite a bit, but I understand why audiences were kind of puzzled with it, since it was very violent, kind of downbeat, but also had some whacked out humor and satire. As we say in Hollywood, "the tone was uneven." But I got a kick out of it.

Not seeing Tomorrowland until I get a free screening.

 

The tone was uneven = the tone employed, unlike most movies isn't content to be just one thing, easily digestible by the un-thinking masses, but to be audacious and use juxtaposition to drive home the points. Same basic formula as Robocop.

 

Saw it tonight and quite enjoyed it. Nice sense of wonder and fun, with cool visuals and good leads.

 

is this not making a mess of cash? another one trashed before the result...surprising.

 

I will own the home video...thanks for the positive...nice.

 

COOL! love Robocop!

 

Took the kids. Saw it in IMAX. Enjoyed myself quite well. It's not Citizen Kane.

 

At the end of the film their 5 year old friend said "I just want to hug him" and I replied "he seems to have that effect on a lot of women"

 

My wife went the other night with her sister and a young niece and nephew. The kids loved it, and at one point
our five-year old nephew looked at my wife and, referring to Clooney, smiled and said "I like that guy."

 

You're depriving yourself if you don't run down to Burbank and see this film in AMC Prime. I thought the presentation was quite startling. That experience was the sole reason I went to the theater at all - and I was forewarned that the film was just so-so.

 

Went in with low expectations, came out liking it a lot. As RFreeman says above, it ain't Citizen Kane, but it's a fun live-action Disney movie with some talented actors in it.

 

It's in Dolby Vision at the El Capitan, so I may drag myself over there. I'm actually jazzed about Dolby Vision for theaters, but I see nothing but problems for consumer sets, because they generally so far out of alignment.

 

And as a follow-up, I did just see Tomorrowland at the El Capitan and enjoyed the presentation very much did (as did all 32 people in the theater on a Saturday night in Hollywood -- the place was 95% empty). Beautiful picture, great cinematography, terrific Dolby Atmos mix, very good visual effects. Very muddled story, but I liked the optimistic upbeat message.

 

Three weeks ago, I started this thread by saying, "Tomorrowland Is a Mess." Damned if noted Hollywood writer and pundit Ken Levine didn't say the exact same thing today:

TOMORROWLAND is unfortunately, a mess. I say unfortunately because its goals are lofty, its message of hope is admirable, and its filmmakers are among the best and most imaginative in the business. Writer/director Brad Bird will always be in my Hall of Fame for THE INCREDIBLES alone. And co-writer Damon Lindelof was a showrunner on LOST (wonderful storytelling until the finale). If anyone can generate interesting original ideas it’s these guys. But it’s like they took everyinteresting original idea they’ve ever had since the second grade and thrown them all into this hodge-podge of a movie. It tries to be Spielberg, it tries to be sci-fi with action-adventure and sermonizing. You have time travel, portals, MEN IN BLACK chase scenes, awe and wonder, mystery, THE JETSONS, Jules Verne, the Apocalypse (it can’t be a summer movie without one), cyborgs, riddles, ticking clocks, villains, and a plug for Disney rides. But it all adds up to an ending so convoluted that Einstein would be saying, “Let’s see if we can sneak into theater 12 and catch the last half hour of MAD MAX.”

...The sad lesson here is you can hedge your bets with A-list directors, writers, and stars. You can create spectacular worlds, dazzling visuals, and feel-good messages. You can support it with the best marketing department in Hollywood. And there’s still no guarantee you will have a successful movie.

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2015/06/tomorrowland-my-review.html

 

Ok money lost

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-could-lose-140-million-801244?facebook_20150610

 

Disney won't even notice that once they tally up their Avengers and Star Wars money. If any studio can easily lose $140 million without breaking a sweat it's Disney.