A family man is drafted to fight in a future war where the fate of humanity relies on his ability to confront the past.
As Dan Forester (Chris Pratt) and his wife Emmy (Betty Gilpin) and young daughter Muri (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) sit down together to watch the final game in the World Cup on TV, a flash of lightning, accompanied by a frightening rumble comes out of nowhere and a group of soldiers materializes, carrying futuristic weapons. Their leader, once she realizes all eyes and cameras are on her, informs the world that they are from the future, 2051 to be exact, and proceeds to tell them that in the next thirty years, mankind will be exterminated from the face of the planet in a war they are currently fighting against a seemingly invincible alien species. Naturally, panic sets in around the globe.
Within months, the futuristic soldiers have set up time machines that can transport large quantities of people at a time to and from the future. Militaries from all around the world sign up to help fight the battle but when most of them don’t return, every country orders a mandatory draft. When Dan is conscripted because of his past military experience, he is partnered with Charlie (Sam Richardson), the only soldier who has been to the future twice before and returned. He tells Dan that the aliens, nicknamed White Spikes because of their enormous size and agility, and their possession of snake-like flailing tentacles replete with lethal projectiles, are quickly taking over the world and if they fail in their mission, mankind will be annihilated.
Once they reach the future, they are tasked with rescuing a small group of analysts who might have found a scientific breakthrough in the war with the aliens but almost immediately they come under attack from the White Spikes and they are slowed down because most of their platoon are inexperienced and have never fought in a war before. Once they reach their intended destination, they locate the analysts, who are all dead, and Dan commandeers their research before being rescued and brought to a safe military location. There, he meets the Command Colonel (Yvonne Strahovski) and learns that he has a connection to her in the past. He accompanies her on a mission where they successfully capture the alien queen and bring her to a secret research lab off the coast where they hope to study her for possible weaknesses but soon thereafter, they are invaded by the White Spikes who will stop at nothing to retrieve her.
“The Tomorrow War” steals ideas from nearly every sci-fi movie out there, from “Aliens” to “Starship Troopers” to “The Terminator” to “A Quiet Place” and “Back to the Future,” there is no shortage of literary imitation on display but overall, the film is enjoyable, in a guilty pleasure kind of way. Chris Pratt reaffirms his charismatic everyman status and delivers a performance that helps elevate the movie slightly above mediocre. Yvonne Strahovski is a tormented but optimistic soul as we learn more about her connection to Dan and both she and Pratt work well together. The special effects are superb in some scenes but inferior in others and this culmination results in a somewhat uneven viewing experience. In the end, “The Tomorrow War” is 140 minutes of sci-fi pulp that overstays its welcome by about thirty minutes but the final result is campy and engaging, in a roundabout sort of way.
“The Tomorrow War” launches exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, July 2nd
