Chris Pratt starrer The Tomorrow War just released today, on Amazon Prime Video, and boy are we glad we watched it! It's as perfect a summer action blockbuster can get. Epic action scenes, a tight narrative, and an endearing cast - The Tomorrow War has all the right ingredients for a perfect weekend watch.
Here’s the premise of the film -
"Time travelers arrive from 2051 to deliver an urgent message: 30 years in the future mankind is losing a war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians to be transported to the future and join the fight. Determined to save the world for his daughter, Dan Forester (ex-soldier, current high-school biology teacher) teams up with a brilliant scientist and his estranged father to rewrite the planet's fate."
And here’s the trailer in case you haven’t had a chance to view it yet -
The film also stars Oscar-winning actor JK Simmons, who’s clearly on a roll following the growing popularity of Invincible, another Amazon Prime Video exclusive where he voices the character of bad-ass superhero dad Omni Man. Simmons plays Dan's estranged dad who joins the fight against the gnarly aliens, standing right next to his son. No better time for father and son to patch things up than a potentially-species ending world event, right?
Right in the middle of all the action, with Pratt and Simmons is actor Yvonne Strahovski, who teams up with Dan Forester in the fight for preventing humanity’s extinction. Strahovski’s character adds a much-needed strong female presence in the plot, something not too many action movies often consider. She’s already proved her mettle in shows such as Dexter and The Handmaid’s Tale.
So why are we going gaga over this film? Well, to start with, can we please concede that it’s been a while since we Sci-Fi geeks got to enjoy an alien invasion movie? And that too with time-travel elements in it? And if that’s not enough - how about the fact that the premise brilliantly flips some time-tested movie tropes? Usually time-travel plots move the narrative to the past - this one, told from the point of view of Pratt’s character, takes us to the future, showing us a world that could be worth saving. And mostly movies that include the word ‘War’ in the title, and show people getting drafted, show children being drafted into them away from their parents. This one shows a parent getting the draft, and risking his life to leave a world worth living in for his daughter.
If you divide the movie into three acts, the first gets the audience right in the middle of the ongoing crisis without wasting too much time, and yet, establishing the characters of the main protagonists and the dynamics between them which are pivotal in the subsequent acts. Dan's non-existent relationship towards his estranged father starkly contrast the relationship he has with his own daughter, who's somewhat of a science whiz herself.
The second act is set entirely in 2051, and that is where Yvonne Strahovski really shines, as the lead researcher slash combat lieutenant leading the R-Force division whose sole aim is to figure out how to annihilate the aliens.
The third act, without revealing too many spoilers, brings JK Simmons back into the action as the father-son duo teams up with fellow scientists and soldiers to fix the invasion problem once and for all.
And to think this movie almost got shelved! Did you know the original rights of the film were with Paramount Pictures, who originally wanted to release this much earlier in theaters. The principal photography had wrapped up by January 2020, but as the pandemic ruined the theater experience for so many, the movie was sitting in the shelves for months, before Amazon Studios rescued it by buying the rights. We couldn’t be happier about that deal because now we got to enjoy this terrific summer blockbuster right from our homes.
One advice - Can you please keep our phones off while you watch it? That way you can pretend you’re in a movie theater.
The Tomorrow War is now available for streaming, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
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