Directed by Chris McKay, the world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester (Chris Pratt). Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J.K. Simmons) in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.
This was another one of these out of nowhere films that I think many people including myself didn’t know what to make of when the first trailers dropped. I think the general consensus was that it was advertised as another generic sci-fi film that happened to have big stars that people really like: Chris Pratt and J.K. Simmons. I wasn’t really sure what to expect until I watched it and what did I end up getting? Honestly, a really awesome sci-fi flick that is packed with fun, brutal and large-scale action, edge of your seat suspense, fantastic visuals, and a very surprising amount of heart. This has to be the biggest surprise film of 2021 by far and while I will say it isn’t totally perfect, it was beyond what I expected and gave me a really great time.
This film in a way feels a lot like Edge of Tomorrow: it takes a premise we are familiar with but approaches it in a unique way while also giving us outstanding and well-crafted entertainment in the process. Chris Pratt is a truly awesome action lead in this film, delivering a solid performance that certainly can be humorous but feels a lot more serious compared to most other roles we have seen him in before. Granted, we have seen him doing beautifully with dramatic and emotional scenes in the past but I feel he really hit hard with certain scenes in this film despite at first giving the vibes of a cliche action hero. But he was really great and I rooted for him throughout the entire film.
Most of the comedic elements of the film ended up coming from Sam Richardson’s character who right off the bat you can tell is meant to be comic relief, but he’s just so damn good at it, especially in such a big action film. He really had some of the funniest moments that break the tension when it needs to, and you can’t help but adore his character so much that you miss him when he is off-screen.
What I really didn’t expect from this film was to be so emotionally invested in most of the characters like the Colonel, played by Yvonne Strahovski. Due to spoilers, I can’t really talk too much about her in detail but she was definitely the emotional core of this film, and a lot of the scenes involving her really hit me thanks to her performance.
J.K. Simmons is not in the film as much as you would expect and at first I was really worried that he was going to be wasted. But they do use him in a great way, and of course Simmons is absolutely perfect in the role. All the supporting roles are great too but it was definitely those four that made the biggest impact in the film.
And then you have the aliens who were fucking awesome but damn are they terrifying and they keep you on the edge of your seat. They are built up perfectly and their designs are really good and unique and are not too generic, thankfully. They are established as a truly dangerous threat in the best way possible and add so much to the tension and stakes with what they are capable of.
The story is huge in terms of size and stakes while also having personal elements that people can get attached to. The tone is surprisingly bleak, featuring a lot of dark elements and much more graphic action than I expected. The theme of war is littered throughout this film and I think it’s very well executed, along with various horror elements involving the aliens. The film does however have its moments of self awareness that keep the film fresh and prevent it from falling into cliche categories.
The film isn’t the usual three-act structure you would expect but it almost felt like it was divided into chapters similar to a film like Doctor Sleep. There was a moment where I thought the film would end but it surprisingly kept going, and despite the risk of falling into various cliches it remained solid and engaging all the way to the very end. There are definitely some plot elements you can pick out and tear to shreds but honestly, there is so much to love that you can ignore the flaws that may or may not appear.
The action gives us some truly grand set pieces that are amazing, and so many thrilling sequences that keep you constantly at the edge of your seat and are shown in full glory with the use of stunning visuals, effects, and stellar cinematography. And again, it is extremely brutal and this film really pushes its PG-13 rating to the max, featuring surprisingly graphic sequences that you’d think would give this film the R-rating. It feels so engaging and it never felt mindless in the slightest.
This film was meant for the big screen and it should have been on the big screen because it looks damn good and so well crafted. The musical score is pretty good and it adds to the adrenaline-pumping action and sci-fi adventure elements. Though I will say there were a few moments where the film goes a bit Christopher Nolan in which the music sometimes overwhelms some of the dialogue and makes it hard to hear.
I had low expectations for this film initially and the trailers did a serious disservice to this film because it is way better than how it was advertised. And honestly, I don’t really understand how critics seem to have such a hatred for this film or how anyone could really hate it. I can understand people taking issue with some elements but this film really does have so much to offer, not only as just an awesome action flick but an awesome action flick that was extremely well crafted and packs some serious emotion that was really unexpected. I’m going to give The Tomorrow War an A.
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