Tomorrowland opens with a classic Disney fanfare and font that are supposed to make you think it’s already a classic, or will be soon enough, but director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and co-screenwriter Damon Lindelof (that guy, co-creator of Lost, knows from disappointing people) never quite match the hope they clearly want to inspire. At the 1964 World’s Fair, a kid who will become George Clooney discovers Tomorrowland, a hopeful place aiming to better humanity that lives somewhere in his consciousness/under It’s A Small World. Then he gets kicked out and becomes a plaid-wearing recluse getting none of the ladies that Clooney face deserves. In Cape Canaveral, Casey (Britt Robertson, excellent) is trying to save her dad (Tim McGraw?)’s job at NASA by sabotaging various things. Long story short she is also chosen by the Tomorrowland recruiter, Athena (a girl robot Clooney is still in love with, it’s not creepy but it is weird), and they go together to crankily fight its leader, Original Accent Hugh Laurie, who is actually evil. On the plus side, the Summer of Feminism continues with an action-adventure movie starring two girls (and Clooney flirting with no one), plus easy-to-follow action sequences and a few good jokes. On the negative, barely an inch of it sticks.
