Brad Bird is a masterful, playful and inspiring director. He is the genius behind The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, The Incredibles and the endlessly enjoyable Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol. Now he directs Damon Lindelof ’s screenplay Tomorrowland, an action-adventure film based on the futuristic Disney attraction of the same name.
George Clooney stars as Frank, a former boy genius who knows how to reach Tomorrowland; a world with a unique relationship to time and space where artists, creators and dreamers were encouraged to invent ways and things to make the world better – free from cynicism and political agendas.
The overlong film is an unabashed propaganda piece for hope and activism. Alas Bird struggles to inspire imagination, rather than just have the message explicitly and repeatedly preached. Moreover, the setting’s fake-looking white and chrome skyscrapers feel depressingly corporate; an Atlas Shrugged commercial sponsored by Apple.