The Tomorrow War – Review [Amazon Prime] (4/5)

THE TOMORROW WAR on Amazon Prime Video is a Sci-Fi Action movie with aliens that are straight out of a horror movie. Sure, it has some silly moments along the way. Overall, it was much better than I had ever dared hope. Read our full The Tomorrow War movie review here!

THE TOMORROW WAR is a new Amazon Prime Video Sci-Fi Action movie that really belongs in a movie theater. It’s got blockbuster written all over it and feels like the Independence Day movie for this generation. However, this is far more doom and gloom (and brutal violence) than it serves up funny moments. This isn’t that kind of Chris Pratt movie!

Also, those aliens – which are kept under wraps, to begin with – are like something straight out of horror movies. Seriously, do not watch this as a “family movie” unless everyone can handle the more sinister kind of monster movie.

Continue reading our The Tomorrow War movie review below and watch it on Amazon Prime Video.

Better than I had ever dared hope!

While I did expect The Tomorrow War to be entertaining, I never expected it to be this good. Sure, there are silly moments along the way, but this movie is not lighthearted. This has the whole “we need to time travel to stop the apocalypse”-aspect of Terminator movies. However, this time we’re not fighting AI robots, we’re fighting aliens.

Grotesque and brutal aliens that look like a hybrid between the creatures from the Alien and Predator franchises combined with the monster from A Quiet Place. Actually, that doesn’t even suffice. These aliens are really something else and they are fast. There are scenes in The Tomorrow War that look like something out of World War Z.

As far as the action scenes – and the overall look and feel of this movie – I find myself feeling a little robbed that I didn’t watch it in a movie theater.

So many awesome actors

Chris Pratt works perfectly in the lead as Dan Forester who is sent to the war in the future. Not as one of the first people drafted though, so he goes with the knowledge of how few make it. Also, there are some “guidelines” that decide who gets drafted (I won’t spoil that for you here) and it does make sense in a sci-fi kind of way.

As already mentioned, this is a darker and more emotional Chris Pratt, we see. Sure, he’s still an action star, but he isn’t the funny guy. That job falls more on Sam Richardson who plays Charlie. However, we’re still not anywhere near what you’d call comedy. We recently saw Sam Richardson star in Werewolves Within and I’m very happy to see him in this as well.

As “Romeo Command” taking charge of a key crew in the future, we get Yvonne Strahovski. She is always great and whether you know her mostly from the latest Predator movie (The Predator from 2018), Dexter, or The Handmaid’s Tale, you should enjoy her performance in The Tomorrow War.

I wish we’d gotten to see Betty Gilpin kick some alien butt as well. I mean, she’s done some action-heavy projects with the Netflix series GLOW and The Hunt. However, her character, Emmy Forester (wife of Dan), never gets drafted to go to the future. She does have a pretty cool scene and plays a huge role in the ending though. Still, it’s all too indirect for my liking.

YOU MIGHT LIKE

Our review of The Hunt – a movie that features some crazy fight scenes with Betty Gilpin >

Also, there’s J.K. Simmons (Defending Jacob) as the estranged father of Dan Forester (Chris Pratt). Edwin Hodge (The Purge movie franchise) plays a character going on his third tour into the future war. Simply because he wants to and has managed to survive this far. Another person in the draft round with Dan Forester is Norah, played with wit and charm by Mary Lynn Rajskub.

Watch The Tomorrow War on Amazon Prime Video!

The director of The Tomorrow War is Chris McKay and if you find yourself thinking “Who?”, then I don’t think you’re alone. He was the director of The Lego Batman Movie (and the upcoming sequel), so it’s quite a different genre-hybrid he’s thrown himself into now. Up next for Chris McKay are the live-action movies featuring the animated characters Nightwing and Jonny Quest.

Zack Dean is the writer behind The Tomorrow War which is only his third script produced after his 2012 debut with Deadfall and the 2017 movie 24 Hours to Live. Both are thrillers with a survival-themed plot which is perfectly in line with this latest screenplay.

With a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes, you might think it’s way too long. However, the last ten minutes are literally credits and there’s more to the plot than you might expect. The war that takes place in the future is only the first part of this movie.

And that’s all I’m going to say about that!

Overall, The Tomorrow War was much better than I imagined and this was such a wonderful surprise. And yes, of course, there are elements to the story that make you go “Wait, why don’t they just do XYZ instead?!” But hey, for this kind of over-the-top action, sci-fi, adventure movie with horror elements, I can forgive that. Easily!

The Tomorrow War is out on Amazon Prime Video globally from July 2, 2021.

Details

Director: Chris McKay
Writer: Zach Dean
Stars: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, Jasmine Mathews, Edwin Hodge, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Keith Powers