I just caught up with the movie Tomorrowland on Netflix, after I missed it last year two years ago in the cinema. I had not been too bothered about it, as I skimmed some generally meh reviews. This had surprised me, because the trailer had been interesting, it had George Clooney in it, and it was directed by Brad Bird from The Incredibles fame. But the general nerd consensus on the Internet was that it has been disappointing, and so I forgot about it until I needed something to watch this afternoon.
Disney’s TOMORROWLAND
Athena (Raffey Cassidy)
Ph: Kimberley French
©Disney 2015
Suffice to say, that it was a really good movie, great fun with endearing characters, beautiful design and an important story.
The underlying theme of the movie – and I am spoiling from here on, so just stop and watch it first – is essentially foreshadowed in an early scene where Casey, our perky protagonist, tells her father the Tale of the Two Wolves in order to cheer him up. I have heard that story ages ago, and had been really impressed by its simple and true message, and was surprised when it came up in the movie. I was even more surprised when the entire premise of the movie revolved around the endless negativity and FUD which is pervading our every day and is being fed to us by the media and by ourselves, and which in the movie literally leads to the end of the world. I found the ending of the movie so positive and hopeful, something that seems so urgently required, especially in these increasingly dire times of Trump and Brexit.
And I thought, it’s strange how the movie seems to have flopped in the theatres, how its message of hope and positivity unfortunately was itself drowned out by the general ennui and destructivity and negativity of the real world, and how things have continued to get worse since then.
They are wrong. It is a great movie, and it is a great message. It is our choice which wolf we feed.
So get your jet pack and let’s fix things!
