REVIEW #74 The Tomorrow War (2021)

The Tomorrow War, directed by Chris McKay, follows Dan Forester as he is drafted into a war 30 years in the future. A group of soldiers travel back in time to recruit new soldiers for a war against an alien race that they are currently losing. Unable to defeat the enemy in normal combat they must race to find a chemical agent that can wipe them out for good.

CAST & THE ACTING 

Chris Pratt leads the ensemble as Dan Forester and at first glance I just expected it to be an all action role with no real substance to the character. However there was actually a lot of depth to the character as he struggles with his working life prior to the war and the personal battles he has with his father and his own daughter at points in the film. Do I think Chris pulled those more emotional moments off well? I’m actually 50/50 because there were some moments that really stirred up a lot of emotions as I watched it but there were other moments where he just didn’t deliver and was outdone by his costars. Yvonne Stahovski who played his daughter Muri Forester delivered a great performance, she done well during the big action sequences but really delivered on the more emotional moments with her father that really got the audience invested in her story and the character. JK Simmons played Dan’s father and he certainly looked great, he got into real good shape which suited the character he was playing. An absent father who lives off the grid and is a military man and pilot, he really comes to life in the final part of the film and I think he performed well. The injection of comedy come from Sam Richardson who played Charlie and it created a nice balance in the film. So I don’t think the acting was too bad at all and it was nice to see Chris Pratt play a different sort of character.

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

The plot was ambitious but I think it was actually pretty good, usually time travel in any film creates a lot of plot holes but I believe they actually tried to address the biggest plot hole which was why they couldn’t just build more machines and go back further. The twist of how the aliens arrived was a nice touch even if it was a little predictable as the film went on. There was a lot of character exploration in the film which I didn’t expect, you see Dans troubled relationship with his father, the relationship with his daughter and the contrast to what actually happens in the future. What this done was it made the characters more relatable to the audience by creating flaws and insecurities and it got me more invested in the characters and their journey. A criticism I would have is how fast it seemed to progress from the moment the soldiers arrived and then suddenly it jumped in time to where millions had already been drafted. I understand the film was long enough already but I think that period of time could have been explored a little more, although they did try to inform the audience with news reports so that they weren’t completely in the dark. Overall I enjoyed the storyline, it was something different that I haven’t seen before and playing with time created some interesting sub plots between characters and actually created a nice redemption story for Dan. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

I think the cinematography and special effects were brilliant in this film, not only were the aliens really creative and realistic but the time travel moments created some beautiful visuals! For instance when the first set of soldiers arrive from the future and interrupt the football game, that looked great. Another example of great cinematography was when Dan first arrived in the future, that apocalyptic, dark orange sky in the background really set the scene and created a strong sense of destruction and hopelessness. There were many different settings in the film which also looked good, from the derelict city in the future, to snowy Russia towards the end of the film and even the base in the sea looked fantastic. You can tell they set a big budget for the CGI in this film because it all looked realistic which is so important for a Sci-Fi film. 

OVERALL (7.5/10)

I read a lot of mixed reviews on this film but I actually really enjoyed it, I’m a fan of Sci-Fi action films and The Tomorrow War is certainly that. I appreciated the emotional sub plots and character exploration which elevated the film from just an action flick and it got me more invested in the characters. The plot was something different to what I’ve seen before which I enjoyed and that was complimented by the impressive cinematography and special effects which looked great! The cast was pretty good, JK Simmons always delivers a strong performance and even though I believe Chris Pratt missed the mark in some of the more emotional moments in the film he still done well. I would definitely recommend the film which is on Amazon Prime, especially if you like Sci-Fi films, it’s not perfect but it’s still a good watch.

Thanks for reading. 

Callan