Finally! I have an unpopular opinion. I watched The Tomorrow War and I really enjoyed it. I even thought it was less crap than reviewers, internet randos and you and your own good sense would have you believe.
It’s not a perfect movie, not even close. But it is a big dumb sci-fi action flick carried for the most part by Chris Pratt who specialises in action flicks of the big dumb sci-fi variety.
Is it his best work?
Nope.
One of the better films this year?
Not even.
But worth a couple of hours of your time and the Amazon Prime subscription you’ll need to stream it, unless you decided to rent?
Not just yes, but Hell Yes with giant, squirmy carnivorous albino horror prawns on top.
The horror prawns, or albino Alien(TM) mutant foetus homunculi or whatever the fuck those things were, are the other hard-working CGI thespians carrying this effort forward. Alien invaders from the future or something, they’re suitably terrifying and hard but not impossible to kill. (Generic aliens, to be sure, not Ridley Scott and HR Geiger’s fully patented Aliens, although there’s a whole lotta homage going on here, too)
I thought the writers did a good job of delaying their onscreen debut, before turning the amp all the way to eleven.
If there is a problem with this movie its not the effects, or the acting (for the most part), or even the script (for the most part). It’s exposition. Most of the silliest, hard-to-take scenes are front-loaded into the first twenty minutes or so.
“Now, Chris Pratt, as you know, aliens have invaded the future and killed all of our best military army guys up there in our future times”
There are, it must be said, many, many assaults made on the viewer’s already wobbly suspension of disbelief before Mister Pratt decides to go on a hero’s journey.
But my friends, once he is duly sucked into our alien-ravaged future, that journey is spiffing good fun. For you. Not so much for Chris or any of his distressingly disposable co-stars.
The Tomorrow War is a movie that revels in revealing character and narrative through action. Not much character, granted. But fucking heaps of action! The quiet, emotional exchanges between Chris Pratt and Chris Pratt’s wife and daughter?
Meh. Bring me another serve of the nightmare prawns.
But the big, kick arse set pieces are well thought out, spectacularly executed, and they do actually advance the story.
And since most of the running time is given over to them, what the hell is wrong with you people?!?
I have seen a number of critical quibbles from people who do rather know better.
But this reminds me of the fellow who wrote me a long letter to complain about Weapons of Choice because the bar where I set one scene in 1942 was actually closed to members of the public in April of ’42, and I had two civilians walk into it in June of ’42, and what the hell was I gonna do about this?
I’m gonna say, dude, in the opening pages of this book an aircraft carrier battlegroup gets sucked into a wormhole and back through time to kick Adolf Hitler’s arse and you’re complaining about the door policy of the Moana Hotel.
Friends, ravenous man-eating sea food starters have invaded the future and you’re complaining about the slow progress of military procurement schedules in this fictional universe. Have you ever paid attention to the progress of military procurement in the real world?
What I remember of him is that he was an engineer who designed undersea robots for repairing pipelines, or something. And was quite the pedant about door policy.
I too enjoyed it. It had me at buff Science teacher protagonist. Sure for timey whimy future war my go-to film is still All you need is Kill but this was fun. Was anyone at the meeting where we decided that The Tomorrow War was a shit film -I missed the memo. (yes I have seen all the negative reviews and comments but like Alan Tudyk's Resident Alien above "This is Bullshit".
Comrade, I concur - a fine way to pass a couple of hours. It really doesn't have to be coherent and logical to be ripping good fun. Like Iron Sky was fun even though it was even more ridiculous
So glad I’m not the only one who enjoyed the ride. Watched with my daughter and the and the first thing we said once it was over was ,”well that wasn’t crap, let’s watch it again. “
Mind you there were a lot of stretches of the imagination but hell that thing needs stretching every now and again.
As for weapons, who needs guns when you can just use harsh words. If only they had thought to tell it to die in the future.
Glad to see you used the (TM) for Alien as i am considering Trademarking the (TM) symbol and waiting for the bucks to roll in.
Onwards to the sequel Chris Pratt also demands the aliens get a real job and a haircut (spikes are so 80s).
I watched it, even through three rounds of comment around my questionable choices. It was ok. A bit silly in places but ok. Definitely eat more prawns though.
Kind of derivative of movies like Starship Troopers, Aliens, and even the 1982 remake of The Thing. All very good movies, but still borrowed. The plot holes could have easily been fixed by a good writer (such as Birmo), and not with a great deal of exposition. Pratt is a good action hero, but I couldn't buy him as a special forces leader or scientist.
Edge of Tomorrow also only had guns that go bang. Still using F-35s 30 years in the future is totally plausible, given how long they've taken to arrive in the present (and how long it's reported to require to upload a new mission plan into each of them). I haven't watched this one yet, but I'm a fan of Chris Pratt's movies, so I will soon.
I watched it last night. JB is 99% correct about every aspect. It's a corker, of the dumb explody variety with an even dumber exposition-intro. The 1% disagreement was that he didn't complain about the bit of the exposition that they kept dragging out into the action part: somehow the future folk know exactly when the war ends? Making time-travel plots coherent is difficult, I guess.
Speaking of which: find and watch a very, very indy sci-fi movie on Netflix called "The history of future folk". Only one 'splosion, from memory, but a really nice little film, IMO.
I really enjoyed it! The only thing missing was a rousing Bill Pullman speech and a sidebar romantic plotline involving Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton.
Yep, you're totally correct. Again. It's a blast. It's stupid. It's fun. It is what it is - and let's embrace it for that. I'm wanting a sequel too. You did fail to mention the big surprise - J. K. Simmons is super old and super buff - what does that bloke eat for breakfast?
My Master said to watch and enjoy, The Rhino will watch and enjoy.
Explaining the timeline to my 12-year-old daughter after four beers was probably the hardest thing about the film, but we enjoyed it.
Also, can you name the Weapons wowser? I'm happy for you to refer to him as me, so I get some notoriety.
What I remember of him is that he was an engineer who designed undersea robots for repairing pipelines, or something. And was quite the pedant about door policy.
I too enjoyed it. It had me at buff Science teacher protagonist. Sure for timey whimy future war my go-to film is still All you need is Kill but this was fun. Was anyone at the meeting where we decided that The Tomorrow War was a shit film -I missed the memo. (yes I have seen all the negative reviews and comments but like Alan Tudyk's Resident Alien above "This is Bullshit".
Looking froward to the sequel. All you need is krill.
Comrade, I concur - a fine way to pass a couple of hours. It really doesn't have to be coherent and logical to be ripping good fun. Like Iron Sky was fun even though it was even more ridiculous
So glad I’m not the only one who enjoyed the ride. Watched with my daughter and the and the first thing we said once it was over was ,”well that wasn’t crap, let’s watch it again. “
Mind you there were a lot of stretches of the imagination but hell that thing needs stretching every now and again.
As for weapons, who needs guns when you can just use harsh words. If only they had thought to tell it to die in the future.
Glad to see you used the (TM) for Alien as i am considering Trademarking the (TM) symbol and waiting for the bucks to roll in.
Onwards to the sequel Chris Pratt also demands the aliens get a real job and a haircut (spikes are so 80s).
Come on, you all felt that door policy blunder was grating, didn't you!
Watching sci-fi on TV??? Did you not see the process I outlined in your last piece???
I watched it, even through three rounds of comment around my questionable choices. It was ok. A bit silly in places but ok. Definitely eat more prawns though.
Kind of derivative of movies like Starship Troopers, Aliens, and even the 1982 remake of The Thing. All very good movies, but still borrowed. The plot holes could have easily been fixed by a good writer (such as Birmo), and not with a great deal of exposition. Pratt is a good action hero, but I couldn't buy him as a special forces leader or scientist.
Edge of Tomorrow also only had guns that go bang. Still using F-35s 30 years in the future is totally plausible, given how long they've taken to arrive in the present (and how long it's reported to require to upload a new mission plan into each of them). I haven't watched this one yet, but I'm a fan of Chris Pratt's movies, so I will soon.
I watched it last night. JB is 99% correct about every aspect. It's a corker, of the dumb explody variety with an even dumber exposition-intro. The 1% disagreement was that he didn't complain about the bit of the exposition that they kept dragging out into the action part: somehow the future folk know exactly when the war ends? Making time-travel plots coherent is difficult, I guess.
Speaking of which: find and watch a very, very indy sci-fi movie on Netflix called "The history of future folk". Only one 'splosion, from memory, but a really nice little film, IMO.
Adding it to my stack.
I really enjoyed it! The only thing missing was a rousing Bill Pullman speech and a sidebar romantic plotline involving Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton.
Yep, you're totally correct. Again. It's a blast. It's stupid. It's fun. It is what it is - and let's embrace it for that. I'm wanting a sequel too. You did fail to mention the big surprise - J. K. Simmons is super old and super buff - what does that bloke eat for breakfast?
Prawns.
Well my weekend viewing is all sorted
who the fk is Sydney Phillip Jones fk tards are us to shit can it anyways...fkn muppet!
I watched it on the weekend and am pretty much 100% aligned with your view.
It looks awesome!!
That's because it is, Keith. It really is.