The Tomorrow War
As the world declares war on the future, Chris Pratt whips out his chemistry set to save his wife and daughter.
Fighting the future: Alexis Louder, Chris Pratt and Edwin Hodge
Chris Pratt has battled his share of critters. Here, though, he has really met his match. The monsters he faces in this time-travelling dystopian epic are massive, extraordinarily agile, incredibly fast and virtually indestructible. Like most movie monsters, they emit a low strangulated gurgle and then, in attack mode, let out an ear-shattering screech. There’s no stopping them. In fact, thirty years into the future they have pretty much colonised the planet, with the world united in one last-ditch attempt to rout the enemy.
It all starts in the middle of the World Cup when an almost certain goal is intercepted by a breach from the future. A unit of soldiers steps out of a temporal gateway to warn the crowd – and the millions watching on TV – that their future is under threat. In fact, most of the future planet is in ruins and, as the leader of the company reveals: “You – are – our – last – hope.” And so, thus warned, the whole world embarks on a war that hasn’t happened yet. And, as Chris Pratt’s science teacher tells his class, “the one thing the world needs right now are scientists.”
Chris Pratt has never been averse to doing the odd sequel. One might even say he lives off them. Here there be all the ingredients of those spin-offs that he has come to call his own: his carefree heroism, a whole bunch of monstrous creatures, a cool narrative device and some time travel. If it’s familiar fare, it is neatly packaged by director Chris McKay, with a steady pace, some nice throwaway touches, smart-ass dialogue and terrific effects. The human emphasis, too, gives the histrionics an emotional ballast, as it is really all about family and second chances. It helps, too, to have actors like J.K. Simmons and Betty Gilpin on board, who manage to brush aside any off-notes of mawkishness or the ludicrous. But it’s Chris Pratt, with his effortless likeability, who powers the emotional engine of the film. He really is an old-fashioned movie star, a machismo figure who can turn his hand to the heroic or the comic, yet still be the husband or father that every woman craves.
It’s unfortunate that the film’s first scene of combat reveals a vista of crumbling Miami tower blocks, but that’s fate for you. And then we see the screaming hordes of tentacled aliens with their serrated rows of teeth, straight out of the Alien textbook. There are obvious touches, too, of World War Z and other apocalyptic scenarios concocted before our own pandemic kicked off. But what makes The Tomorrow War so timely is its story’s reliance on the importance of genome sequencing and all things scientific. It’s just a shame that with its $200 million budget and far-flung locales (Miami, Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, the Russian Arctic), the film has had to settle for a streaming release on Amazon Prime. It would have looked great on a giant screen.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, Edwin Hodge, Jasmine Mathews, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Keith Powers, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Mike Mitchell, Jared Shaw, Alexis Louder.
Dir Chris McKay, Pro David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Jules Daly, David S. Goyer and Adam Kolbrenner, Ex Pro Chris Pratt, Screenplay Zach Dean, Ph Larry Fong, Pro Des Peter Wenham, Ed Roger Barton and Garret Elkins, Music Lorne Balfe, Costumes Betsy Heimann, Covid Supervisor Marley Oh.
Paramount Pictures/Skydance Media/New Republic Pictures/Phantom Four Films/Lit Entertainment Group-Amazon.
138 mins. USA. 2021. Rel: 2 July 2021. Available on Amazon Prime Video. Cert. 12.
