Mushy moments aside
The Tomorrow War movie review: Mushy moments aside, Chris Pratt's alien invasion thriller is a worthy watch
Chris Pratt's The Tomorrow War seems to be director Chris McKay's hat-tip to its thematic predecessor, the 1996 seminal feature Independence Day. In the opening shots of The Tomorrow War, Dan Forester (Pratt) is about to enter his house where they are hosting a Halloween party. As he walks across the porch, a blowup Halloween doll comes in centre-frame. The inanimate object flutters in the wind, and its head slowly tilts towards the camera, as if it were alive. Those few seconds are enough to establish a foreground for the narrative.
A sudden human intervention reveals to the present world (of 2022) that mankind will come under major threat in the next couple of decades, following an alien invasion. In the raging tussle between man and beast, humans are fast disintegrating to a point of extinction. The future humans ask for public help, and through a process of "drafting," calls upon eligible candidates to time travel till 2051 and fight the aliens.
Dan joins the force, trying to alter a deadly future just so that he can insure his family in the present.
The Tomorrow War utilises screenplay smartly to amp up the sense of crisis that jolts our species into a possible death. McKay imbues a keen reading of gender through a simple tale of good vs evil. The world of aliens is relentless, savage, and most importantly, hungry. Humans fall prey (literally) to their ever-growing numbers. Yet, there is an entire sequence that elaborates how protective the men are of their female counterparts, and how they would sacrifice themselves to keep them safe. That is not to say the females are in any way timid, in fact, as the film shows, the breeding female is the fiercest of the entire lot.
This sequence is juxtaposed with Dan and his future daughter, who complains that her father abandoned the family and never found the time to accommodate them anymore. But as much as he would like to imagine the scenario, Dan fails to understand how he could ever do that.
McKay places aliens as the external unified force to highlight the fragmented state of the human species. Although wild, the aliens' struggle to survive is never shown in a questionable light. Even though audiences may predict a happy ending, the route taken by the creators is compelling; almost like witnessing an inter-species race to the end.
Breanna Adams and Jennifer Alavez (visual effects) create a worthy villain. Grotesque and unforgiving creatures are meant to evoke revulsion, above and over that Adams and team succeed in activating a tingling sense of empathy with the beast in an alien-eat-man world.
Pratt's wide-eyed smoulder may become repetitive after a while, but his intentions are well-rounded. As Dan, he puts up an earnest front of a man desperately trying to hold on to everything he believes in, his family, and his need to "be greater than a high school Biology teacher."
But the film also highlights the importance of a passionate high school teacher in shaping young minds and building the blocks for a future resistant to such complete annihilation.
The film not only questions man's superiority as a race but also makes space for a happy resolution to ensure goodwill and sense of hope. The Tomorrow War is a worthy watch, just so long as we can avoid its mushy moments which may pass off as corny at times.
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