The Tomorrow War — Movie Review
by KJ Proulx
Unless you get rare films like Back to the Future, Looper, or even subtle ones like Safety Not Guaranteed, films revolving around time travel are nearly never flawlessly executed. From inconsistencies with minor details to how it’s all explained, time travel is very hard to convey properly. Originally made for the big screen, Paramount Pictures decided to sell their film The Tomorrow War to Amazon, so it’s now available to stream on Prime Video, which I’m sure will be the only way to view it for a long time. It’s honestly a shame that this film didn’t play on the big screen, because it’s very obvious it was made that way. Full of issues but still a fun viewing experience, here are my thoughts on The Tomorrow War.
From the very first trailer alone, I was interested in the premise of this movie. In the year 2022, soldiers appear from the future to warn everyone that in 2051 the world will go extinct and be taken over by a race that they call “White Spikes”. A draft is then started to acquire soldiers from the present to fight in the future. Trying to be the best family man he can be and looking to further his career, Dan (Chris Pratt) now has to risk his life, as he is one of the most recent draftees. Having a military background, he becomes exactly what the teams needs and he leads them the best he can.
This film is very much divided into sections that all seem to begin and end, which makes for a movie that, in turn, feels its length. I had a blast with all of the big action set pieces, due to the fact I found the creature designs to be unique and they never once glamourized them. The sound design is great and the action scenes are very loud, which made for a very exciting first couple of acts. By the time the third act begins though, I found the film became insanely predictable, which it already was from the beginning. Aside from being predictable from start to finish, it’s still a very entertaining movie that cares about its characters.
It’s not that these elements ruined the film or anything, but when you set up actors in your first act that you know will pay off later, and they don’t do anything to make you think they won’t follow through, it can feel a little easy. The final act of this film plays out very simply. It almost felt like they put too much effort into the concept itself that they decided to wrap up the film in a very breezy way. Yes, there are consequences and certain relationships worked for me in terms of emotion, but again, it didn’t all jive well together when looking back on it.
Overall, The Tomorrow War is the perfect kind of film to put on if you're just looking for a film to relax and eat a bowl of popcorn to. Chris Pratt is very likeable as Dan and I also thought Yvonne Strahovski was great as well, sharing some nice chemistry with Pratt. As for the rest of the cast, most were there as either deadweight or comedic relief, even though a few of them have moments to shine. I had a blast with the spectacle of the film and even liked the family aspect of it all, but there is also a lot that’s missing, even at 138 minutes. Now streaming on Prime Video, The Tomorrow War, if for nothing else, is worth the watch if you’re an action or Sci-Fi fan.
Rating: 3.5/5
Check out the trailer below:
