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The Tomorrow War begins with Dan Forester (Chris Pratt), a soldier who’s formerly toured Iraq, being thrown into the future, falling from the sky and landing in a swimming pool along with everyone else, being dropped in is like the D-Day landings… making me think that that’s better than landing by the SIDE of the pool!
Go back 28 years earlier, it’s December 2022 and Christmas is on its way, with a celebration at the Forrester house where everyone’s watching a football match on TV – which seemed a bit odd, since I thought Americans would only watch American football, and so have resigned to viewing what they call “soccer”?
Either way, mid-match, a group of people arrive from the future – declaring they’re fighting a war against aliens, and that mankind will be exterminated in 11 months unless today’s heroes help tomorrow’s heroes. Of course, it takes 2022’s humans a bit of time to adjust to this, given the endless lies we’ve encountered in 2021 about the so-called “climate emergency”, but with this bunch, they actually have proof.
Chris Pratt is basically the same character in everything, but that’s not necessarily a hindrance. Here, while he served in Iraq, his absconding father – James (JK Simmons – Zack Snyder’s Justice League) – fought in Vietnam. Can they find peace between each other given that the aliens are going to blow the world apart? Before I watched no further than their initial meeting, I figured I’d have the answer. It’s not the most deeply-plotted of movies.
I like that Dan has a device on his arm to help him jump back and forward in time, but I did wonder – What if he gets an itch? Plus, in trying to help him get the time travel device off his arm:
- Dan: “I wish you wouldn’t drink while you do this”
James: “I wish Stevie Nicks would show up in her birthday suit, with a jar of pickles, and a bottle of baby oil(!)”
So, The Tomorrow War has a lot going for it, in terms of an action film, as there are a number of other one-liners dropped in, plus I like futuristic-based films, along with time-travel.
As with all films like this, including the recent Army of the Dead, when you have a rag-tag group of misfits up against a seemingly unstoppable foe, not everyone will survive, so how will things pan out for this bunch?
In 2051, they’re up against an enemy called the White Spikes, who shoot out poisonous darts like a nail gun, and I like the build up of the tension when the aliens aren’t around, and that when the action kicks in, it’s big-time guns vs snarly aliens! Plus, it has a huge, epic soundtrack blaring at you for almost the entire running time.
It does throw up one or two surprises along the way, as long as you’re one of those moviegoers who doesn’t engage brain before watching such a film. Plus, spot the “We’re not in Kansas anymore” reference.
With the mix of going forward in time and dealing with creature which look not too dissimilar from dinosaurs, this is like Terminator meets Jurassic World.
So, basically, The Tomorrow War is the film Jurassic World should’ve been.
Oh, and as well as seeing Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter, The Predator), whose role will be explained as the film goes on, it’s also nice to see Mary Lynn Rajskub for the first time in ages. Here, she’s Norah, one of the soldiers, but in 24, she was Jack Bauer’s geeky sidekick, Chloe O’Brien.
The Tomorrow War is on Amazon Prime Video from Friday July 2nd. but the film isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 138 minutes
Release date: July 2nd 2021
Studio: Amazon Prime Video
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (ARRIRAW (2.8K), Anamorphic Panavision, Phantom RAW (4K))
Rating: 9/10
Director: Chris McKay
Producers: Jules Daly, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, David S Goyer, Don Granger, Adam Kolbrenner
Screenplay: Zach Dean
Music: Lorne Balfe
Cast:
Dan Forester: Chris Pratt
Romeo Command: Yvonne Strahovski
James Forester: JK Simmons
Emmy Forester: Betty Gilpin
Charlie: Sam Richardson
Lt. Hart: Jasmine Mathews
Dorian: Edwin Hodge
Muri Forester: Ryan Kiera Armstrong
Major Greenwood: Keith Powers
Norah: Mary Lynn Rajskub
Cowan: Mike Mitchell
Tank: Jared Shaw
Diablo: Alexis Louder
Rose: Rose Bianco
Sgt. Diaz: Seychelle Gabriel
Lt. Tran: Alan Trong
Lt. Ikemba: Chibuikem Uche
Dodd: David Maldonado
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.