The Tomorrow War (2021)

[Malcolm R]

Title: The Tomorrow War (2021)

Tagline: The fight for tomorrow begins today.

Genre: Action, Science Fiction

Director: Chris McKay

Cast: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, Theo Von, Jasmine Mathews, Seychelle Gabriel, Alan Trong, Chibuikem Uche, Alexis Louder, Mike Mitchell, Edwin Hodge, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Keith Powers, Felisha Terrell, Melissa Saint-Amand, Gary Weeks, Rose Bianco, Gissette E. Valentin, David Maldonado, Olaolu Winfunke, Piper Collins, Matthew Cornwell, Eric Graise, Ashlyn Moore, Christina Bach, Jared Shaw, Robert Tinsley, Andrea Andrade, Christopher Cocke, Shane Berengue, Alzie Williams, Stacy Johnson, Rad Daly, Patrick Malone, Jim Palmer, Clark Sarullo, Megan Lawless, Chris TC Edge, Nicole L. Campbell, Shiquita James, Perry Zulu Jr., Gloria Bishop, Rahiem Riley, Keith Brooks, Quasheem D. Herring, Terrence Smith, Darin Ferraro, Clyde C Harris, DJames Jones, Jason m Edwards, Mia Naipaul, Christopher Holloway, Bryan Metoyer, Nic Curtis, Justine Edwards, Tommy O'Brien, Dean Feldman, Shawn Ray Cartel, Damon LeGrand, Jamie Urena, Eric Daniel Stumpp, Amere Stewart, Conrad Carpenter, Adriana Catalano, Nathan W. Collins, Reese Giles, Jeannie Ledford, Eeryn Falk Lubicich

Release: 2021-06-30

Runtime: 138

Plot: An ordinary man is recruited by time travellers from 30 years in the future to fight in a war against deadly aliens.

Another major tentpole film from Paramount heading to Amazon Prime tomorrow. Seems odd it's not on Paramount+ ?

Reviews:

https://deadline.com/video/the-tomorrow-war-review-chris-pratt-amazon/

https://ew.com/movies/movie-reviews/tomorrow-war-review/

https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/the-tomorrow-war-review-chris-pratt-jk-simmons-1235009659/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/m...is-pratt-in-the-tomorrow-war-film-1234976637/

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I liked this one a lot more than I expected to. It's big dumb summer blockbuster fun like Independence Day was back in the day.

As a plus, the aliens here are genuinely horrific.

There are a number of implausible developments that you have to swallow to buy into the movie:

Spoiler

1. That the governments of the world would willing conscript their citizens to save the world thirty years in the future. If recent events have taught us anything, most politicians aren't worried about three months from now, much less three years from now.
2. That the draftees would sent into the future with next to no military training. Yes, times are desperate. But it's a waste of resources to send people (and the equipment issued to them) into the future without equipping them with some skills to increase their chances of surviving.
3. The one week tour of duty is also a headscratcher: If someone has proven their ability to survive against the White Spikes, wouldn't you want to make use of that skillset rather than sending it back? Part of the reason the death rate is so high is because the vast majority of draftees have less than a week's worth of experience fighting the enemy. It's hard to get battle hardened when you serve term is so short.

It also has an interesting and unconventional structure; there is roughly a half-hour of movie left after the big climactic battle. The engine driving the movie is the problem that needs to be solved, rather than action for action's sake.

Chris Pratt is well cast as the lead here, probably more so than in the Jurassic World movies. He's playing a really intelligent guy this time around, but the movie uses his earnest niceness well.

Sam Richardson is genuinely effective as the comic relief. He gets the best lines in the movie.

It's hard to discuss Yvonne Strahovski's character without getting into spoilers, but she has to play a number of different facets, and she handles them all credibly.

When the time travel elements were introduced, I scoffed. But upon further reflection it holds up better than I expected it to:

Spoiler: Time Travel Explanation

The only way the movie makes sense is if the universe follows some version of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. There are two timelines in the movie:

1. The original timeline, in which the White Spikes covertly conquer the world after mysteriously appearing some thirty years in the future. Humanity tries and fails to stop the onslaught; out of desperation, it creates a rudimentary form of time travel, creating a bridge 29 years into the past. The remnants of the human race open the wormhole in the middle of the World Cup finals in 2022, to give their message maximum visibility.
2. The new timeline, created by the arrival of the soldiers from 2051.

However, it is not a time loop. The two timelines interact with each other, but the changes in 2022 of the new timeline don't affect the past of the original timeline. They're separate universes that had identical histories until 2022. The original timeline uses the new timeline to recruit cannon fodder to hold the aliens off long enough to find a way to defeat them. But by the time the solution is found, there's no saving the Earth of the original timeline. So the original timeline passes along its findings to the new timeline, to prevent the calamities of the original timeline from ever occurring.

The only thing that doesn't make sense is why a person can't be alive in both timelines at the same time, given that they're two separate people who just shared a history until 2022.

Another major tentpole film from Paramount heading to Amazon Prime tomorrow. Seems odd it's not on Paramount+ ?

Because Paramount+ wouldn't pay $200 million for it like Amazon did. ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia seem to have very different strategies; WarnerMedia is willing to sacrifice Warner Bros. in the short term in order to build up HBO Max for the longer term. ViacomCBS appears to be allowing Paramount Pictures to get the best deals possible for its content, even if Paramount+ suffers.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Paramount held back the latest SpongueBob movie -- which had already had theatrical release in Canada -- to be part of the launch for Paramount+ in March. They also made it available across other digital retailers at that time, which means it wasn't even exclusive to their service. Meanwhile, they unloaded The Lovebirds on Netflix last year and took big fat Amazon checks for this film, plus Coming 2 America and Without Remorse recently. It feels like the interests of the film production side and the streaming service side are not terribly aligned. Amazon's check means Paramount is probably in the black for this movie, but their streaming service is lagging as a result.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I've started watching it this morning.

 

[benbess]

It quotes quite a bit from Alien, Aliens, ID4, Starship Troopers, The Thing, the Lost in Space movie, etc., but ends up being from my pov a sort-of okay popcorn movie. My rating: B-

 

[Jeff Brooks]

We really enjoyed this. The Atmos sound was powerful, but the voice track seemed a little low.

 

[cinemiracle]

Should have been called THE TOMORROW BORE- Truly a mess of a film.

 

[Mark Booth]

Terrific popcorn flick. Just suspend disbelief and go along for the ride.

4 out of 5 stars.

Mark

 

[Robert Crawford]

We really enjoyed this. The Atmos sound was powerful, but the voice track seemed a little low.

Terrific popcorn flick. Just suspend disbelief and go along for the ride.

4 out of 5 stars.

Mark

Yup, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and thought it was terrific entertainment. Also, I found the film very suspenseful as I was on the seat of my pants watching it. A solid 4 out of 5 stars from me.

As to the Atmos soundtrack, it had my 7.2.4 Atmos setup kicking and had zero issues with voice track.

 

[DaveF]

Wife wanted to watch a scifi movie last night. I said I’m told Tomorrow War is fun.

Fun movie. High concept: Time travel meets zombie apocalypse colored by loving family hero.

Had I paid $30 for theater tickets, I might have been disappointed. But, free in my home in my theater, watching on a whim, it was wholly enjoyable and completely what I wanted last night.

I had a rating system once that was along the lines of:

1. Worth paying for a movie theater ticket
2. Worth a rental
3. Worth catching on TV
4. Skip it

I realize I need to update this to:

1. Worth going to the theater / buying on disc
2. Worth streaming at home
3. Skip it

The Tomorrow War is for definitely a #2 recommendation.

 

[DaveF]

As to the Atmos soundtrack, it had my 7.2.4 Atmos setup kicking and had zero issues with voice track.

My AppleTV HD doesn’t do Atmos. But the Dolby Surround on my AVR extracted a lively Atmosy surround experience from the 5.1 soundtrack.

 

[Edwin-S]

It was better than "Independence Day", but you could definitely see all of the "borrowing" from films like "Starship Troopers" and "Aliens".

 

[Edwin-S]

@Adam Lenhardt

The three points in your spoiler really do highlight the main weaknesses of the film, especially the last two.

Edit: To add, the validity of your first point was actually shown to be truthful by the film itself when

Spoiler

the guy refuses to help them mount a military expedition into Russia, even though it has been explained to him that doing so could prevent the whole war from even happening.

 

[DaveF]

Spoiler: Time Travel Explanation

The only way the movie makes sense is if the universe follows some version of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. There are two timelines in the movie:

1. The original timeline, in which the White Spikes covertly conquer the world after mysteriously appearing some thirty years in the future. Humanity tries and fails to stop the onslaught; out of desperation, it creates a rudimentary form of time travel, creating a bridge 29 years into the past. The remnants of the human race open the wormhole in the middle of the World Cup finals in 2022, to give their message maximum visibility.
2. The new timeline, created by the arrival of the soldiers from 2051.

However, it is not a time loop. The two timelines interact with each other, but the changes in 2022 of the new timeline don't affect the past of the original timeline. They're separate universes that had identical histories until 2022. The original timeline uses the new timeline to recruit cannon fodder to hold the aliens off long enough to find a way to defeat them. But by the time the solution is found, there's no saving the Earth of the original timeline. So the original timeline passes along its findings to the new timeline, to prevent the calamities of the original timeline from ever occurring.

The only thing that doesn't make sense is why a person can't be alive in both timelines at the same time, given that they're two separate people who just shared a history until 2022.

I understand it a bit differently:

Spoiler: Time travel

There is only one timeline. It is not a multi-world situation.

1. The original timeline happens. The creatures emerge in 2048.
2. Time travel invented.
   1. It only goes to one location.
   2. Both start and end points move in time linearly
   3. There is no arbitrary timetravel
3. Future time travel inventors go back in time and inform world of alien invasion,
4. Past people go forward and fight
   1. The future moves forward along its timeline
   2. The past moves forward along original timeline
5. Solution found, goes back in time
6. Past finds and eliminates aliens before they emerge
   1. Past proceeds along on its timeline
   2. Future timeline is now different

So I understood:

• There is no multiverse
• There are not multiple timelines
• There is only the one timeline
• The future is overwritten by the future going back to the past and effecting change to the passage of events not yet happened

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Yeah this borrows from so many movies but for a 4th of July weekend flick it’s a good time waster much like Jurassic park fallen world was

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I understand it a bit differently:

Spoiler: Time travel

There is only one timeline. It is not a multi-world situation.

1. The original timeline happens. The creatures emerge in 2048.
2. Time travel invented.
   1. It only goes to one location.
   2. Both start and end points move in time linearly
   3. There is no arbitrary timetravel
3. Future time travel inventors go back in time and inform world of alien invasion,
4. Past people go forward and fight
   1. The future moves forward along its timeline
   2. The past moves forward along original timeline
5. Solution found, goes back in time
6. Past finds and eliminates aliens before they emerge
   1. Past proceeds along on its timeline
   2. Future timeline is now different

So I understood:

• There is no multiverse
• There are not multiple timelines
• There is only the one timeline
• The future is overwritten by the future going back to the past and effecting change to the passage of events not yet happened

If that were the case, though, the future should have changed every time the future sent people to the past and the past sent people to the future.

 

[JohnRice]

If that were the case, though, the future should have changed every time the future sent people to the past and the past sent people to the future.

I just chock that up to sloppy writing. They had an idea and didn't want to get wrapped up in the mechanics of it.

The fact is, I see no indication anywhere in the story that...

Spoiler

it's not the exact same world. That option just has to be posed to fix the sloppy writing. If that was intended to be the case, there would have been something... somewhere in the story to back it up. Other than it's the only way to fix some of the problems. The problem with the "Many Worlds" theory is that the two "worlds" are absolutely identical in every perceivable way. With many worlds, there has to be variations. If that was the intention, something would have been written into the story to indicate it.

Finally, I don't really see this as derivative as others seem to. At least, no more derivative than almost any other popcorn action flick. I don't see any reason to hold it to a higher standard. It was fun, and it's actually more original than can be expected from this type of movie.

The result is still an unavoidable...

Spoiler

paradox. Once the threat has been destroyed, the need to develop the means to destroy it in the first place is eliminated. Of course, the many worlds approach fixes that, but I just don't think that was the intention. Like I said, I just take it as sloppy writing, which is hardly unique to this movie.

 

[Tino]

Loved it. Terrifically entertaining. Wish I could have seen it in IMAX!

 

[Tino]

I hope this gets a physical release on 4K.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The fact is, I see no indication anywhere in the story that...

Spoiler

it's not the exact same world. That option just has to be posed to fix the sloppy writing. If that was intended to be the case, there would have been something... somewhere in the story to back it up. Other than it's the only way to fix some of the problems. The problem with the "Many Worlds" theory is that the two "worlds" are absolutely identical in every perceivable way. With many worlds, there has to be variations. If that was the intention, something would have been written into the story to indicate it.

Spoiler

The many worlds theory just states that there is a universe for every possibility. If the world of 2022 and the world of 2051 branched off at the moment that the future people appeared in the stadium, it would make sense that they are identical in every perceivable way, because -- until that moment -- they were. Everybody who had been born prior to the point where they branched off would exist in both universes.

Another J.K. Simmons project, "Counterpart", explored this in a more in-depth and serious way. In that case an East German experiment in the eighties prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall resulted in the universe being duplicated, with the only passage between the two universes at the spot in Berlin where the experiment took place. At the moment of duplication, the two universes were identical. But the Butterfly Effect meant that they gradually developed in different directions.

It's the only way it's not a paradox. But if it is two separate universes that were identical until 2022, then it makes no sense that the young and old versions of people can't exist in the same time, because even though they were the same person up until the moment when the timelines diverged, they're different people now -- probably very different people. That is hinted at when Colonel Forester talks with Dan about her father. Her father was the same person as Dan until 2021 or so, but her father never found his calling, never got drafted into saving the world. And as a result of his frustration and disappointment, his marriage failed and his relationship with his daughter suffered.