(Warning: Minor Spoilers)
Here we go again. Another live-action, fun for all the family, Disney blockbuster. Perhaps not well known in the UK, Tomorrowland, is not just based upon a Disneyland ride like Pirates of the Caribbean, but the whole area or 'Land' of the famous theme parks. The first one built in 1955 represented the then contemporary cultural obsession in the US with futurism topped off by a Jules Verne steampunk twist.
Having visited Disneyland Paris twice as a child, I must admit it was one of the highlights, especially the manic Space Mountain roller coaster. For Walt Disney himself, Tomorrowland highlighted the wonder and imagination of the 'what could bes', 'what ifs' and sunshine on the horizon leading to a better tomorrow. At the park's opening he declared:
Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future.
Sixty years on, the Disney Corporation have cashed in again on one of their older properties and created a story around it. In the film, Tomorrowland is a place of wonder clouded in mystery, located in another dimension - Neverland and Narnia comparisons instantly come to mind. A space set aside for the most gifted scientific minds and creative, imaginative idealists to come together without our world's distractions, politics and bureaucracy with a mindset of advancing technology for the good of mankind. Having thought it would be a poor Half-Term outing based on the below par Rotten Tomatoes percentage (49% at the time) I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the film and the ideas it portrayed. It was also refreshing to see a positive take on what the future holds rather than trailing along the usual dystopia that modern cinema seems to be obsessed with.
Brad Bird (The Incredibles; Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) directs the film in his usual colourful, positive and whimsical style - no doubt influenced by a past in animation (this is only his second live-action picture). He directs George Clooney starring as a cynical grown-up boy genius, who in his 1960s childhood finds himself invited to Tomorrowland only to be later exiled. (The reason for which I will not divulge to save from spoiling the plot). But the real star is relative newcomer Britt Robertson as Casey Newton who gives a bright performance as this gifted, optimistic, young scientist.
After a brief run in with the police Casey finds a small pin with the letter 'T' on it that transports her to Tomorrowland whenever she's holding it. But it's only a taster of the real place and so she seeks out a reluctant Frank who she begs to take her to the real deal, whilst being hunted down by Terminator-esque robots with the most awful (but amusing) American perfect white teeth smiles.
On arrival in Tomorrowland Casey and Frank are met by the antagonist David Nix (played by Hugh Laurie...playing Hugh Laurie), the leader of Tomorrowland. Casey soon learns that thanks to their advanced technology they can see Earth's future - and it doesn't look good. Within 90 days the planet will see mass floods and environmental destruction on an apocalyptic scale thanks to humanity's inability to deal the problems it's created for itself. The world needs saving. David Nix is profoundly pessimistic telling Casey and Frank that humanity does not listen and so there's no way of saving the Earth.
But Casey is the film's positive influence claiming that the future they saw is not what will be, only what could be. And her optimism is prevalent throughout the film. Near the beginning her worldview is encapsulated as she reminds her father of a story he used to tell her as a little girl. 'You have two wolves one representing darkness and despair, the other light and hope. Which one lives? The one you feed.' And I'm sure I'm not the only Christian whose thoughts were instantly taken to old self (sinful flesh) and new self (born again identity in Christ). Which one do we feed? 'Throw off the old and put on the new.' says the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians.
The film's positive message is very attractive - I especially enjoyed the affirmation of a unity between detailed sciencey types and big picture imaginative idealists (not that you can't be both!) working together to create new and exciting wonders - something that can be done to the glory of God. But this positivity must be taken with a pinch of salt as it only makes sense in a Christian Worldview when it's in light of salvation.
Thinking on the film's redemptive themes - Tomorrowland:The World Beyond, just like Christopher Nolan's Interstellar takes a naive self-sufficient view of salvation. The world is in trouble and needs saving it says, so let's be positive, feed the wolf of light and hope as we work together for a better tomorrow. In other words - man can save himself apparently.
Yet as we know God stepped in first through His Son - the God-Man Jesus Christ. Sent to be our saviour, because we can never save ourselves. And once we know that and are secure in him, well then we're free to work together with the different gifts God has given us to create, wonder and imagine new and better things for his glory. 'If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.' says Paul.
Tomorrowland as a place makes me think of Heaven, the real world beyond. Located somehow beyond human comprehension in another dimension, separated from our fallen decaying world. But unlike Tomorrowland it's not just the best and brightest who get to go there. The invite is open to anyone who will take it up - and most wonderful of all we don't have to find a way there. It's coming to us. Heaven, come to earth - The New Creation.
