The Tomorrow War is a really fun action packed Sci-Fi flick, despite its obvious flaws and excessive runtime.
The Tomorrow War has a lot of great aspects to it — and it is a fairly good Science Fiction flick, however, it is not without its faults. The biggest issue is the runtime, that coupled with some cheesy looking monsters do bring it down a beg, but the fantastic story, good acting, epic action complete with gore, and the overall messages make this one more than worth a watch.
In The Tomorrow War an army arrives from the future, asking for help killing off a hoard of monsters that has decimated the human race. In order to help them fight, they need to jump into the future. Each tour lasts seven days, and Dan Forester, played by Chris Pratt, is one of the drafted.
He is former military and quickly falls into the role of leading the rest of his group. He works closely with the future with a Commander played by Yvonne Strahovski, who steals every scene that she is in. There is so much to love about her character — especially the fact that she is not only a strong woman, she is a very smart woman.
What Works With The Tomorrow War
There is a lot of fantastic action in The Tomorrow War, that starts off pretty much immediately with Dan’s jump to the future. Giant monsters have taken over the planet and soldiers from the past are humanity’s last hope. Th best part about this action? The movie does not shy away from the gore, monster gore anyways, and that makes it a a really fun watch. The cinematography during the war zones and action scenes are particularly stunning, as well.
The plot itself is very captivating and intriguing — especially for Science Fiction buffs. There is a lot to love about this part of the movie with twists and turns that are sometimes predictable, but sometimes a complete blindside. It feels like something that has never been done before, at least as a whole when put all together. Even though it is disjointed in moments, it pulls together nicely in the end.
Chris Pratt yet again proves he is a pretty decent action star. He runs around shooting up the monsters like a pro, and although he surely has a stunt man, he pulls off some fantastic action scenes. J.K. Simmons, who plays Slade, impresses per usual, and although he is underused, when he is on screen, he is fantastic.
But the real star here is Yvonne Strahovski. She is just incredible and steals every single scene she is in. She holds her own, easily, playing across from Chris Pratt and is easily one of the best parts of the film.
Around the hour and half mark of The Tomorrow War could have easily been the end of the film. In that moment it felt like things were wrapping up, at least for the most part, and viewers would have been happy with it. Perhaps even leaving room open for a sequel. Instead, the movie decided to press on, and that is the worst part about it.
What Doesn’t Work With The Tomorrow War
Because it doesn’t allow itself to wrap up after the powerful and emotional second act, the third act falls flat and could never possibly catch up with it. From that moment on, the movie becomes pretty predictable as well, making it a double whammy of flops.
Then the movie continues on for another forty minutes and that is when it feels completely unnecessary. The Tomorrow War has no business being a two hour and eighteen minute long movie, and that is its biggest downfall by far. After the second act it really drags on, and although the ending is great, it takes a really long time to get there.
It doesn’t help that the monsters, more often than not, look so cheesy that it is laughable. Luckily, they move very quickly during most of the action scenes, so this is mostly only noticeable when they are zoomed in on during still shots.
Overall Thoughts
The Tomorrow War boasts a lot of incredible action, a few fantastic leads, and world ending monsters — what more could Science Fiction fans want? The biggest issue with this film is that it lasts two hours and eighteen minutes, and it feels it. The second act is so powerful that the third act was doomed from the start, and was never going to live up to it. While the story does get there, it takes a long time to do so.
There are strong parent child relationship messages that resonate throughout the film, which are important for viewers of all ages to see. Messages of forgiveness, of sticking around through thick and thin, and messages about the love parents have for their children.
About The Tomorrow War
In the thrilling science-fiction action adventure The Tomorrow War, 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 military scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J.K. Simmons) in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.
The Tomorrow War comes to Amazon Prime Video on July 2, 2021.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.