Starring:
Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons
Directed By:
Chris McKay
Written By:
Zach Dean
In the future, aliens have almost overrun the entire earth. The remaining people have sent themselves back in time to recruit their ancestors to come and fight to save the world. Chris Pratt is an ex-soldier turned science teacher that is recruited into the future, but what he will experience or the likely hood of his survival is slim, in this new sci-fi action thriller that may have impressive creature design, but has a hollow emotional core.
Chris Pratt has turned from Parks and Rec comedic star into a full-fledged action hero. It feels like with that transition a lot of the silliness we loved the actor for has been traded in for ‘cool guy jokes’ and smoldering stares in the distance. I love Pratt as an actor and know he is able to bring in a fully dimensional performance, but in ‘The Tomorrow War’ he just failed to give the emotional punch I needed.
The story of parents and children, leaving a better future for them is all present here, but the emotional bond between Pratt’s character and others isn’t really visible to the audience. The supporting cast including Yvonne Strahovski and J.k. Simmons is really just there for Pratt’s character to get motivation from but you don’t really care about the relationship ship enough for those moments to pay off. The comedic support from Sam Richardson was the most fun in the movie.
The action, creatures, and VFX are all top-notch. I actually loved the alien design and how they fought and moved in the film. They put a lot of attention to detail with the aliens and you get to really see what they look like up close. All of the camerawork through choppy you can still watch headache-free, but I do wish we’d gotten this in a theater, it may have more grace with showcasing the big-screen spectacle but that’s missed in the home theater setting.
Overall, this is a generic action sci-fi thriller but sadly feels held back by the script. Definitely check it out if you’ve already got Prime Video and it’s a decent watch for the Fourth of July weekend.
