Hey, look – it’s Chris Pratt! In a sci-fi movie! With big mean monsters! How… familiar!

The biggest difference between The Tomorrow War and some of Pratt’s other big action dramas (Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World, Passengers) is that it’s not opening in theaters. It’s being released on Amazon Prime. That could be part of the reason I wasn’t exactly blown away. It’s possible my mere 42” TV screen diminished the film’s impact, though not its audio levels. It got very loud in my living room during battle sequences. Sorry neighbors!

The Tomorrow War reminded me a lot of the 1996 Will Smith blockbuster Independence Day, which frankly, is a much better film to watch this July Fourth weekend if you’re sitting at home anyway. Unless you are a Chris Pratt fan with a soft spot for time-travel flicks. Then go for it. The movie has its flaws – especially when trying to track plot and alien motivations – but Pratt is, as always, easy to watch and believe as an everyman-type hero with a wry sense of humor.

Here’s the gist: Pratt plays the affable Dan Forester, a war veteran turned high school teacher drifting through life in suburban Miami with his loving wife and young daughter. Until one day when time travelers from 2051 show up to deliver an urgent message: Soldiers and civilians from around the globe need to beam up to the future asap to fight some deadly alien species, or the entire planet will be destroyed. Forester gets drafted into battle, for a seven-day tour of duty. Some make it back; most don’t. But Forester is determined to save the world – and his daughter’s future — even if it means reaching out to his estranged dad, a bitter but brilliant scientist played by J.K. Simmons (Whiplash).

There is a familial twist in the film, but not much suspense as to how it will ultimately play out. After all, tomorrow is another day.

Arty Chick’s two cents: I pretty much agree with everything Mainstream Chick says. And days after watching it, I kept misremembering it as some sci-fi series I binge-watched and quickly forgot. 

The Tomorrow War starts streaming on Amazon Prime on July 2.

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