The Tomorrow War - Movie Review

What do you get when you take an all star cast of actors and horrifying body horror aliens and smash them together like action figures on Saturday morning?

A Mixed bag…

Let’s discuss.

The Tomorrow War is a Time Traveling Dystopian Action Sci-Fi Film brought to us by director Chris McKay. It’s crazy to think that McKay has gone from directing Morel Orel and Robot Chicken to a massive Science Fiction blockbuster. What an absolute legend. While I do have a lot of issues with the film as a whole, I can’t complain about the directing. The performances drawn out of the actors is evidence enough to McKay’s talent.

The film centers on Dan Forester played by Chris Pratt, a former special forces operative who came back from Iraq only to find disappointment. He works as a high school science teacher while trying to apply for jobs that fit his specific set of skills from his military service, but only finds rejection. So, when soldiers from thirty years in our future interrupt the World Cup finals with a dire message: the future is dying. A war of genocides has broken out between man and alien and humanity is on its last legs. Soldiers from the past are needed to reinforce mankind’s future. A worldwide draft is established and Dan is selected. Will he survive his seven days in armageddon and return to his family?

There be spoilers ahead!

The choice of Chris Pratt as the lead was off putting for me. Not because of him as a person or for his beliefs, but because he often tends to play the same character, Star Lord. If you haven’t seen guardians of the galaxy let me break it down. Pratt plays a man child with a heart of gold. He’s a Judd Apatow action hero with daddy issues. His performance in this film is much more nuanced his previous roles. Pratt obviously took the issues affecting our veterans seriously. His understated portrayal of an emotional wounded veteran who can’t find his place in the world is heart wrenching. He survived Iraq, only to remain an outsider. It mirrors many of the veterans I’ve had the pleasure to talk to about their experiences. Pratt’s character still has daddy issues, but it goes hand in hand with the veteran narrative.

Speaking of, JK Simmons has been hitting the gym. He plays Dan’s father, a Vietnam veteran who came back from the war broken. He abandoned Dan and his mother due to his fear that he would hurt them emotional and/or physically. It’s a common story with veterans of that lost generation. If ever there were two groups that could bond over their pain, it’s the soldiers of my generation and Vietnam vets. The film does a fantastic job of illustrating this with these two characters. Also, there’s no one better than a buff JK Simmons to play a gun-nut, anarchist.

Not to be outdone, the female leads of the film also turn in heart wrenching performances.

Betty Gilpin might be the most likable actress working today. Yes, she’s built like a brick house, but that’s not what her real draw is. She has this incredible skill of emulating blue collar America. Her odd facial ticks and vocal delivery makes her relatable in that she’s not a perfect Barbie. She’s broken just like we are. She isn’t in the film an incredible amount, but she steals every scene she’s in. Her chemistry with Chris Pratt is palpable.

This is similar to the female lead Yvonne Strahovski. I’ve been in love with her since Chuck and Mass Effect 2. So, it doesn’t take much to enjoy her being in a project, but this might be the best acting of her career.

The crazy thing is that Pratt’s character Dan is the glue that holds the social group of the film together. Not with witty banter and comic relief, but with determination and grit. Unlike Star Lord, Dan is a damaged man who is just trying to do the right thing. While most of the soldiers sent to the future focus on their own survival, Dan keeps putting himself in harms way to save others, for better and worse.

The chemistry across the entire cast is a rare thing. Maybe I’m imagining it, but it definitely felt like all of the performers enjoyed working on this film. From Sam Richardson’s masterful comic relief / adult Urkle performance as Charlie to Jasmine Mathews’ somber and charismatic turn as Lt. Hart, everyone meshes together. If you haven’t seen Jasmine Mathews before, I highly recommend dropping her name into Google. She is a stunning television actress that I hope is transitioning into a headlining career. Anytime she’s on screen, it’s like the camera can’t look away and neither will you.

Then we get to my favorite actor in the film. The most underrated actor working today, Edwin Hodge. This guy is the African American Dick Miller. He’s been in pretty much every T.V. show since 1996 and is in many of your favorite video games. I remember him fondly from Boston Public and the Purge franchise. He always turns in a solid performance and this film is no different. He’s a character actor’s character actor and I’m glad he got showcased in this big a production. He’s a straight up boss.

It’s a rare occasion when the acting and actors outweighs the special effects and spectacle of a film. In today’s day and age though, majestic set pieces are mundane. Michael Bay has burned out pop culture with explosions both practical and computer generated. Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, James Cameron’s Avatar (Blech), and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have done spectacle to death. Without good writing and acting, the special effects might as well be a Bob Ross painting. Yeah, it’s quaint, but it’s the man we tuned in to watch, not the art.

This isn’t to say the film isn’t gorgeous. The film is shot in full 4k digital. I watched it on my 82” Samsung QLED TV with HDR10. It was gorgeous to behold. The scene of humanity raining from the heavens over a smoldering Miami is one of the more gut wrenching sequences I’ve seen in awhile. The monsters are CGI on the level of District 9. They are such a unique blend of a Genestealer from Warhammer40k and a Zerg Queen from StarCraft. The build these creature’s up to such a degree that I was expecting to be let down by the reveal, but I can happily say the monsters defied my expectations.

What didn’t work for me was the format of the film. The film jumps around. It feels like they may have originally been playing with a format similar to an old 40’s newsreel. There are time jumps (not referring to time travel) where time passes without any reference point. The film technically has three settings: Present day before the war, future during the war, and present day after the return from the future. It feels like three episodes of a really good Miniseries. I feel like they may have taken the miniseries route if the production hadn’t been planned as theatrical release. Due to Covid, the release of the film was pushed and the rights ended up sold to Amazon. If this had been planned for digital only release originally, I feel like they may have broken it up into parts. The world building that is done in all three segments in fantastic and I want to know more. I wanted to know about Charlie’s Geo-tech company and Dan’s dad’s life as a soldier of fortune. I feel like if they could have spread it out over episodes, it wouldn’t have felt as disjointed as this film does.

The disjointed feelings gave me as a viewer the feeling that time was moving slowly. The film feels long due to this fact and its a shame, because this is by far one of the most accessible and fun hard science fiction movies in awhile.

Are there logic gaps in the script? Oh my God yes, but we’re not talking Prometheus here. This is a film that involves time travel. Show me a time travel movie that doesn’t have logic issues.

I’m waiting.

Now that you look like a fool, let me conclude.

The Tomorrow War is a popcorn flick with heart. Maybe it’s a little heavy handed, but for me it was so relatable. I have family who fought in both Vietnam and Desert Storm. I have friends who lived and died in Afghanistan and Iraq. I feel like this movie was made for veterans and to educate those of who aren’t. It’s an education with adrenaline pumping actions, incredible effects, and a core group of actors who put everything they had into it.

Watch this movie to see Chris Pratt play something other than an oaf. Watch this movie if you played a lot of Halo and you loved the Flood levels.

Just watch this movie, it’s a good time.

The Tomorrow War is streaming free on Amazon Prime.