J.K Simmons – The Tomorrow War’s saving grace

By Tharishi Hewavithanagamage

Directed by Chris McKay in his first live-action directorial release, and with a script by Zach Dean this latest sci-fi, action movie stars Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J. K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, Edwin Hodge and Keith Powers among others. The film was originally scheduled for a theatrical release but was delayed due to the pandemic. The film was released digitally via Amazon Prime Video and is streaming now.

In the film, a group of time travellers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. Their only hope for survival is to travel to the future and join the fight. In a bid to save the world for his young daughter, high school teacher and family man Dan Forester along with his estranged father and a brilliant scientist team up together in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the entire world and its people.

The Tomorrow War is a déjà vu of every alien sci-fi (with an imminent doomsday scenario) movie. The movie boasts a whole new type of alien species called ‘White Spikes’, who have come to Earth for an all-you-can-eat-buffet, and the rendition is unlike any other type of alien species audiences have come across till now. Their general presence mixed with multiple extreme close-ups are undoubtedly horrifying.

What makes it more electrifying is that, occasionally the camera work plays out to make the audience feel like they are in a first-person shooter video game. The film is loaded with intense, meticulously-crafted action sequences and eerie suspenseful moments that work well with the end-of-the-world-theme of the movie. The emotional core of the movie is held by Pratt and his on-screen daughters of the future and the present, played by Yvonne Strahovski and Ryan Kiera Armstrong respectively. The on-screen chemistry of their father-daughter relationship highlights themes of love and family, and brings a softer tone with emotional moments against a setting plagued with war, guns and alien guts. It’s also interesting that the movie actually pays heed to scientists and logical scientific theories, like global warming, which receives a small nod.

However, these themes aren’t explored in depth even with a nearly two-hour runtime. While the film introduces a new premise with the combined alien-invasion and time-travel aspects, the script and plot struggle. The story lacks depth and a solid connection to its characters and themes. The characters themselves look disconnected to the story and each other, barely keeping it together with monotonous humor. And for the most part they spend more time loading and unloading their guns than anything else.

What’s also striking is that the movie produces more questions than answers, due to the logical discrepancies. The biggest question surrounds the origin of the aliens and the time-travel paradox (which for spoiler reasons won’t be discussed). All in all the entire movie feels disconnected, as if the creators simply mixed in every sci-fi movie that was ever made, and added a bunch of new aliens and time-travel to make it interesting. Overall, the plot works just enough to bring viewers a complete story, and should there be a sequel, this film has the potential to grow and bring something new to the table.

In terms of the cast, Chris Pratt is no stranger to playing a hero, seeing as he starred in box office hits like ‘Jurassic World’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. Pratt once again brings his action-hero self and plays well into his multi-layered role as family-man, biology teacher, war veteran and team-leader for the futuristic mission. Sam Richardson stands out in his role as Charlie, who offers actual laughable content and Yvonne Strahovski showcases her fluidity and range through her character. But the real winner of the movie is the jacked-up J.K Simmons. Seeing this veteran actor with an impressively chiseled physique is jaw-dropping. Despite his muscled appearance, Simmons plays his role as an estranged father and renegade tech-genius which adds its own charm to the movie. The characters aren’t sculpted to have much depth and feels like they were forced to fill out the role and deliver their performance somehow.

The sci-fi genre has been explored too many times which is why the bar is set so high. Audiences are constantly looking for something original and unique. This film does offer a unique story, an all-star cast, gigantic-insectoid aliens who bring a refreshing feel to the visualization of an alien species and the all-important thrilling VFX fueled scenes, all of which are bloated and made wishy-washy by a clunky script and flat characters. In the end, the only things memorable from ‘The Tomorrow War’ are the questions that it leaves behind, and J.K Simmons.