My Top 10: Pixar Films

It is hard to believe that 25 years saw the birth of Pixar's first feature film, Toy Story. It then became a landmark in film history. It was also the first film I ever saw at the cinema. It was for my 6th birthday and I remember the cue extending to outside the cinema and round the corner.

After that, every next feature release seem to become an instant classic be a proud member in everyone's top films of all-time list. In my all-time top 100, there are currently five Pixar films with one other film recently leaving my top 100 unfortunately.

The stuff I see in the behind the scenes DVD extras from their California studio is simply astonishing. It is like the staff members live there and it is the ultimate place to discuss ideas. From the early 90's, that studio has changed the face of the animated genre and has showed that animated films don't need songs to be successful. Instead, well developed characters and emotional stories have made Pixar become a juggernaut studio.

Also, with a lot of their films being accompanied with a magical short film before the feature, Pixar really give you an unforgettable cinematic experience.

With everyone new feature having extremely high expectations from the audience, a few of their last features have unfortunately missed the target. If it was done by another studio, they would be seen as an welcomed addition to their filmography. But thankfully, Pixar are still releasing terrific films and the anticipation is always sky high.

Pixar currently have released 28 feature films and below are the ten films that sadly will be missing out on my top 10 list:

28) Cars 2 - By far Pixar's weakest film. It is a solid feature with nice action that is worth watching. But the whole tone of the film felt a bit out of character for Pixar.

27) Cars 3 - A not bad third installment. Starts off ok with some surprisingly slow scenes until a nice use of nostalgia and a risky finale that works.

26) The Good Dinosaur - It might not be as in-depth or clever as the majority of Pixar's releases, but it still has that classic magic that all the family can enjoy. In a world where the meteorite did not hit Earth and destroy the Dinosaurs, a young herbivore and a voiceless child set out on a journey to return home.

25) Elemental - A mixed bag but better than expected despite the marketing not looking promising. The narrative is familiar with on-the-nose themes. But it moves along at a nice pace, the animation is strong and the characters are pretty engaging.

24) Lightyear - While there is connections to the Toy Story franchise, this is more of a space adventure story. It may lack that Pixar emotion, but it makes up for it in its level of fun.

23) Onward - A good fun fantasy adventure with a strong emotional pay-off. Definitely not an instant classic. But it could well be one of its most fun.
Set in a fantasy world that has forgotten is magical ancestors, two elf brothers embark on a quest to find their Dad with the help of magic.

22) Turning Red - A fun and energetic metaphor on adolescence and accepting change. The vibe is a bit different to your Pixar feature and does lack that vintage emotional heart. But it is a welcome change that continues to show the evolution of this studio.

21) Luca - A nice and simple story with a great message for kids. While the stakes and end result is not as in-depth or profound as a lot of its predecessors, it's a fun time with gorgeous animation and score.

20) Brave - This saw Pixar slightly get back to their standard. But for many, the story felt too basic and not as memorable. I found it to be pretty good, but I would also fall with the majority on this one.
19) Monsters University - After questioning some of it on the first viewing, I have enjoyed it the more times I watch it. The first Pixar prequel sees a great origins story on the biggest friendship within the Pixar universe. It might not be nowhere as emotional as 'Monsters, Inc.', but it is still a lot of fun.
18) Cars - A terrific story about the most famous road in America. With an interesting concept, Pixar gave us another highly enjoyable film. Despite that, at the time of its release it was seen by many as ptheir least favorite which shows you the quality of films Pixar has made.
17) Finding Dory - After the events of Finding Nemo, we see Dory begin her search for her parents that she lost as a kid. While not as good as Nemo, Dory is still a great watch with lovable characters and a very interesting story-line that was really well executed.

16) Inside Out 2 - A more than credible sequel to the 2015 classic. As Riley gets older, more emotions get introduced and we get a pretty good portrayal of the beginning's of puberty and learning to cope and accept your flaws.

15) A Bug's Life - Pixar's second feature was always going to have a hard time to follow from Toy Story's success. But it became a smash hit. It is a great story that has terrific characters and has wonderful comedy.
It is wonderful story-telling, has terrific pacing and has one of the most emotional scenes.
14) Incredibles 2 - The long awaited from the 2004 original is fun, exciting and one of Pixar's strongest follow-ups. It sees Elastigirl being the advocate for supers to be legal whilst a villain called the 'Screenslaver' is causing havoc.

13) Toy Story 2 - The sequel to Pixar's first feature and it became another box-office smash.
When Woody is taken by a toy collector, it is to Buzz and his friends to rescue him.
But Woody suddenly sees his place in the world of toys.
12) Soul - A moving comedy adventure told with such passion and maturity. It sees a music teacher given the chance to live his dream before a near death experience gives him a unique second chance. The animation is wonderfully varied throughout, keeps you guessing where it's going and puts you in that constant dreamlike state that Inside Out did.

11) Coco - A wonderful way of portraying Mexico's day of the dead festival. It's an highly enjoyable adventure story with many memorable characters and some fantastic native music.

Here are my top 10:

10) Ratatouille - A film that really exceeded my expectations.

It sees a rat with an unusual set of cooking skills make an alliance with a young kitchen worker moving up the ranks in a French restaurant looking to get back to its glory days.

It is terrific animation and a story that managed to work in a way that only Pixar can make a success of.

9) Up - With it's first 10 minutes etched in everyone's minds, this terrific adventure story became such a hit with audiences around the world.

It has a great old school feel to it and was one of Pixar's few to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
Also, checkout the amazing score by Michael Giacchino.

8) Inside Out - Pixar's latest feature and it brings back to a winning formula.

We see what goes inside the mind of a 12-year old and the result something truly clever and entertaining.

The characters are portrayed brilliantly, the story is probably Pixar's cleverest. It almost has an Alice In Wonderland sense to it.

7) Finding Nemo - One of Pixar's biggest projects and it became part of Pixar's masterpieces that will inspire many generations to come.

With a such a heart-warming story, this is certainly one that people of any age will find something really profound from it.

6) Toy Story 4 - Pixar's most precious creation and it continues to flourish with another wonderful piece of work.

When a new toy joins the gang before a family roadtrip, Woody leanrs how big the world can be for a toy.

It may be the first Toy Story film that is actually a 'toy story'.

5) Monsters, Inc. - Many people's first Pixar film that could actually compete with the legacy of Toy Story.

In a world where monsters scare kids in order to power their city, one child gets through to the monster world and the best scare duo are caught right in the middle of this incident.

It is one of those perfect family films that each member can get benefit from.

4) The Incredibles - Writer and director Brad Bird creates something that is beautiful with perfectly timed action and all in all, incredible.

A world where superheroes exist but are banished, one superhero is summoned on a secret mission that could spell the end of super's forever.

It has a great old school setting and tone to it that really makes it something quite extraordinary.

Like Up, composer Giacchino's score is just terrific.

3) Toy Story 3 - I think I can speak for everyone that we were nervous about the release of this one.

Despite the big gap between this and second Toy Story, Pixar still managed to amaze this with a story that tugged at our heart strings.

This has become a beloved franchise. With a fourth one on the way, I am confident that it will be another success as I know Pixar will not screw up the franchise that begun their studio.

2) Wall.E - Probably Pixar's most artistic films that has become something quite special for a lot of people including myself.

Despite very little dialogue, the level of story-telling made me speechless.

This film is gorgeous and made me so close to giving this the perfect score.

1) Toy Story - Any film that becomes a landmark will become timeless in more ways than anyone can imagine.

Toy Story is a film that no-one will forget and one of the perfect films to escape from the world.

It's adventurous, entertaining, ground-breaking, has great characters, clever story-telling and is the perfect animated film.

My Top 10: James Horner Scores

For the past 35 years, James Horner has become one of the most well known composer's in film history.

He frequent mix of orchestral and electronic made his scores some of the most recognisable of all-time. Also he associations with Celtic music made people associate that style of music with Horner instantly.
The directors you usually see him compose for James Cameron and Ron Howard.

He has scored over 100 films, shorts and documentaries and two of them are currently the two highest-grossing films of all-time. But with the announcement of his tragic death, it was a shame to find that we would miss out on not just any future scores, but his initially scheduled score for the three upcoming Avatar films.

It was really tough to narrow his scores to what I believe is his ten best. Some really good scores have unfortunately miss out. One soundtrack that I want to give an honorable mention is The Land Before Time. It is a gorgeous soundtrack that I remember from my childhood and it was a shame that I did not include it in my top 10. But that just shows how accomplished this composer was. Each of my top 10 will have bits of the soundtrack attached, so you can have a listen. Some of them could soundtrack suites, or just my favorite piece of music from that particular score. Here are my top 10:

10) *batteries not included - Despite being directed by Matthew Robbins, this 1980's heart-warming family sci-fi had Steven Spielberg's hands all over it as executive producer.

This particular piece of music is called 'Hamburger Rhumba' and it is from a very amusing part of the film. It also contains a great mix of some of the films main themes.







9) The Pagemaster - It is a terrific fantasy adventure film that is great for family viewing. It was a film I watched a lot as a kid and it somehow was never seen a by a lot of people and has now become forgotten. You may think this is a sympathy vote. It sort of is, but the music is very enjoyable to listen to.

This piece of music I have chosen is during the film's main action set-piece that at the time was quite ground-breaking. It also is the part when we are introduced to The Pagemaster himself.

I would also have a listen to the official songs of the film that he helped composed for called 'Whatever You Imagine' and 'Dream Away'.

8) Braveheart - Winners of 5 Oscars including Best Picture, this 1995 smash hit wowed audiences with its top performances and intense action. One other key aspect was its memorable soundtrack that really captured to the time period and tone of the film.

With its many famous scenes and quote, the score certainly played a vital part in those moments.

This piece is of music is a suite to the entire soundtrack.

7) Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan - The film that began Horner's career as a major film composer.

This enjoyable sci-fi adventure really enhanced the franchise to mainstream audiences. It has been a while since I have seen it. So when I revisited the score, I forgot how much Horner blended his style to the usual Star Trek themes that made the score quite impressive.

This piece of music is the epic main title.

6) Apollo 13 - One of the most famous films from the 1990's, this space drama based on true events is wonderfully told by director Ron Howard and has great performances from Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise.

This piece of music is used in the famous launch sequence scene.

5) Troy -  Probably the last epic 'swords and sandals' flick. This really enjoyable Greek war drama has the star-studded cast and is set on a massive scale.

While the audience is in awe of the battle scenes, Horner's score is setting the tone beautifully. With the soundtrack sounding very similar to fellow epics like Ben-Hur, it has that great mix of classic and modern.

This piece of music is a fan-made compilation of the music associated with the film's main character.

Also, check out the films end credits song, 'Remember Me' performed by Josh Groban.

4) Field Of Dreams - My favorite sports films that really affected me, not just in the story but the emotional score.

A film where a corn farmer hears voices in his heard to build a baseball field would sound quite mad. But the direction, performances and the score all managed to make this one of the greatest films of all-time.

Horner's score is mesmerizing and haunting at times and just adds to the tone of the film even more.

This piece of music is a suite of the entire soundtrack.

3) An American Tail - A wonderful and emotional family animated drama that I don't think gets enough recognition.

It sees a Russian mouse family attempt to emigrate to America. But when the son gets separated from his family, they must find him whilst trying to survive in a new country.

The score by Horner has some of the best use of strings from an orchestra ever and it is a soundtrack that I will never forget from my childhood.

I was thinking of putting its sequel 'An American Tail: Fievel Goes West' into my top 10. But as the sequel's score has a lot of the themes from the original, I decided to discount it.

2) Avatar - Currently the highest-grossing film of all-time, director James Cameron came out with visual spectacular on a epic story across space that sees a marine sent out on a mission. He then becomes torn between following orders and protecting a world he now sees as home.

Horner's score fitted perfectly into the environment and it is one I have listened many times.

This piece of music from the collectors edition of the soundtrack. It is a combination of the music used in the final scene and the entire end credits that features the terrific song for the film 'I See You' by Leona Lewis.

1) Titanic - The film that got Horner his two Oscars for Best Original Score and Original Song.

At the time it became the highest-grossing film of all-time, and like Avatar it was directed by James Cameron.

With its terrific re-watch-ability, this modern classic is highly enjoyable to watch, has good performances and one of the most iconic soundtracks of all-time.

If you played a few seconds of the soundtrack, people will instantly be taken back to the 1997 Best Picture winner. It gives me chills every time.

This is the soundtrack that defined Horner's career.

The piece of music I have chosen is the chilling 'Hymn To The Sea'.

Review: Terminator Genisys

The film I was most nervous for this summer has arrived.

The reason I was nervous for the fifth Terminator film, was the trailer.
It looked corny and cheesy. It also showed hints that they could very well be erasing the first Terminator by changing the timelines.

This made me nervous as I would probably be angry once I have seen at the cinema.

When the second trailer came out, I had heard that there was a major plot spoiler in it. I know some trailers are known for basically showing the entire movie. So thankfully, I managed to avoid it.
Now that I have seen the film and now the trailer, I cannot believe they showed that! Apparently, the director is not happy with the marketing team as they were not supposed to do that.

I can safely say that going in with low expectations might be the best thing to do for this film. I found to be good mindless fun that any bog-standard summer blockbuster should be.

Even with its flaws and occasional sacrilege to the iconic first two installments, their is a lot of fun and I was never bored.
Rise Of The Machines had a certain charm to it, Salvation had enough CGI action set-pieces to made it watchable. Genisys was a bit of both.

The action was good, the pacing was consistent and there were not any moments that made me get angry at the movie despite the complex use of time-travel.
Like many of the latest additions to franchises, it ran like a greatest hits album. This can be both good and bad. Thankfully I think they got away with all the references that they used, even the use of some famous lines.

The performances were not memorable, but not terrible. Emilia Clarke was solid as Sarah Connor. She was no Linda Hamilton, but she seemed to hold her own for most of the film. The only major drawback was the lack of presence as she did not seem as commanding as Hamilton was.
Schwarzenegger was actually fairly good and I think his performance will be widely seen as understated.
Jai Courtney was as poor as ever. He is as wooden as ever and I think he would have been better cast as a Terminator. As for Jason Clarke, it was perfectly fine but I still don't know how he is getting all these roles. He has not impressed me yet and all of his performances seem to be sub-standard.
A couple of minor roles that I think were wasted were J.K. Simmons and Matt Smith. They are great talents and too give under-used characters was a missed opportunity in my eyes.

It obviously won't be as viewed so many times like James Cameron's features of the franchise. But you should not expect that. Take it for what it is and you will it as pleasant and mildly enjoyable as I did.
There is a lot to get your head round. I'm pretty sure a lot of it will not fit right in terms of movie time-travel law. But I don't think that will get in the way of your enjoyment of the on-screen action.
The high points is the opening 30 minutes, the chemistry between Schwarzenegger and Emilia Clarke and pacing of it that manages to never fall into any moments of dullness.

I can sort of see why Cameron sees this as the true sequel to Judgment Day. However I would rank it slightly behind Rise Of The Machines, and comfortably ahead of Salvation.

Rating: 7/10

Nostalgic Review: The Terminator Franchise

For people who grew up in the 80's, The Terminator franchise was an integral part of your upbringing.

Director James Cameron began with a vision of a cyborg chasing a human with a knife in its hand. Then with the help of his writing team, his vision became something that I don't think he could have imagined.
It is also of course the franchise that made Arnold Schwarzenegger the star that he is today. From his famous "I'll be back" line, Arnie became a global titan.

It became one of the biggest franchises. Sadly, it has lost steam since it's iconic second feature. I personally it will never get back to what it used to be. But I am always interested in another addition to this franchise.

Below are my reviews of each feature:

The Terminator - The one that started it all. James Cameron's vision comes alive in this sci-fi action blockbuster with a mix of horror slasher.

With great intensity, beautifully made action and a simple premise, this film is so much fun.

Rating: 9/10

Terminator 2: Judgment Day - One of the most memorable sequels to be superior from the original.
Arnie is back and there is a new target for The Terminator.

Everything raised its game and we have a movie that blew everyone away. It still easily stands the test of time.

Rating: 9/10

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines - Without Cameron directing, this was obviously going to be a disappointment. It was actually a solid effort, with a surprising amount of comedy that just about holds it together.

It does have that certain charm that makes it watchable, and it has a pretty impressive action set-piece.

Rating: 7/10

Terminator Salvation - Many people's weakest of the franchise, including me. However, I thought it was still a pretty solid romp.

It definitely may not be as ground-breaking as the first two, but it has enjoyable set-pieces that satisfied me.

Rating: 7/10

Terminator Genisys - With the trailers not showing much promise, it actually was solid popcorn fun. Most importantly, it was not the worst of the series.

The story was ambitious and I think it will upset a lot of the hardcore fans. But I felt it was as good as it could have been with the people who were involved. This franchise remains nothing without James Cameron.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Jurassic World

The first Jurassic Park film is probably one of the most watched films of all-time. I would think this is in my top 3 along with the likes of Star Wars and probably a classic Disney.

It has been 14 years since the last Jurassic Park installment, and I think it was safe to say that it was a disappointment.

Now after years of discussing ideas, director Colin Trevorrow and his team have come up with an idea that is aiming to rejuvenate the franchise and put the Jurassic Park legacy back into the black.

After seeing the first trailer, I was very nervous as it looked sub-standard and the story they were hinting at felt too similar to Jurassic Park III.
So I went into the screening with low expectations, which I did not think I would for a Jurassic Park film.

It was always going to be a tough ask to emulate the 1993 release, but thankfully this was a good solid popcorn feature.
The opening did get me excited, the majority of the film plodded along nicely and there was one very tense moment. The final act is probably the high point. It has great action set-pieces, a couple of tense moments that would not look out of place from the first Jurassic Park and it has some good laughs.

One thing I liked a lot about it, was the ideas. They definitely did not capitalize on all of them, but they certainly gave us a flavor.
Another positive that was definitely a big highlight was the clever drops of nostalgia that fans of the franchise will have fun searching for during the film.

However despite all that promise, it does have its flaws and problems. The script is sub-standard, there are some cheesy moments that they could have got rid of, the characters are probably the least engaging of the entire franchise and I think there was too much CGI, especially for a franchise that is known for its top-notch prosthetic's.
Thankfully, the level of these problems are only minor and it is nowhere near as major as the third one. The flow of the film still hangs together enough for this to be a solid outing.

Despite none of the performances being terrible, there were none that were worthy of mentioning. Leads Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt were ok, and their on-screen relationship was pleasing enough. But I think the better relationship was with Pratt and a certain species of dinosaur. Also, Pratt's look was a great indicator that he could be the next Indiana Jones. He definitely fits the billing and I hope he becomes the next biggest action star. I also like Howard, especially after seeing her in The Help. She does have her bad-ass moments towards the end, that could match Emily Blunt's performance in Edge Of Tomorrow.
A couple of minor characters do show occasional comic relief. But sadly, that was about it.

It was a shame, as the success of Jurassic Park was mainly because of the interesting and well written characters, Even the characters in Jurassic Park III were better developed then in this one.

Even with all that, the movie is definitely entertaining and just good fun. All I wanted from this film, is for it to be better than the third one. It is by far superior, and I think it is on a par with The Lost World, which I do like a lot more then the majority do.
I hope some people are not expecting another all-time classic, as I do not think that is fair on the people making this. Admire its ideas, despite them not using all of them to their fullest. With the plot leaving holes for a sequel, I hope this is seen a nice bench mark that they can improve on.

Rating: 7/10

Nostalgic Review: Jurassic Park Franchise

The franchise as a whole may not be the most impressive, but it certainly contains one of the most important films of all-time.

After originating as a novel in 1990, director Steven Spielberg made another blockbuster that at the time became the highest grossing film of all-time. It also was the film that saved an almost bankrupt Universal Studios at the time.
Four years later saw the hotly-anticipated sequel, The Lost World. With mixed reviews, we were not sure we would be going back to the islands of Isla Sorna or Isla Nublar.
Then in 2001, director Joe Johnston took the helm in what was most definitely a failure.

Now 12 years in the making, we finally have a fourth installment about to be released worldwide. After many people including Spierlberg devising ideas for the studio to use, they decided to go for under-developed director Colin Trevorrow. Initial trailers do not look promising. But, I and many others will still be going in with an open mind and matching even the tiniest of magic from the 1993 classic will be enough to entertain the moviegoers.

Jurassic Park - The amount of highly positive reviews and box-office it got was unprecedented.

With high quality action, tension, so many iconic and memorable scenes and interesting characters with great performances lead by the late great Richard Attenborough. This is certainly one great film watching experience. Many people like me will have this film as essential part of their childhood.

It will forever be a landmark in film-making.

Rating: 9/10

The Lost World: Jurassic Park - On it's release, I thought it was o.k.
But over time, I have come to appreciate a lot more, especially after the release of the third feature.

Now I see it as a decent adventure film with moments of greatness.

With Spielberg director, there is thankfully some great moments. The tension scenes are surprisingly quite gripping, it has a decent story and has some good performances, especially by the late Pete Postlethwaite. It also sees Vince Vaughn in one of his serious roles before he became a big star.

Rating: 7/10

Jurassic Park III - The first signs that this series is running out of ideas.
It does have some decent moments of action. But overall, it is pretty bad.

Massively weak story, corny tone and sub-standard characters.
Despite this being the most recent of the three, the CGI managed to be the worst. At least, they still used a decent amount of practical effects which looked nice.
You can virtually see everything that is not Spielberg, who was only an executive producer in this.

Rating: 6/10

Jurassic World - Despite its flaws, the latest adventure is pretty solid and is fun to watch.

We see John Hammond's vision become a reality. But with declining visitor numbers, a new hybrid attraction is created that could even scare the adults as well as the kids.

There is clever use of nostalgia and some great action set-pieces. But its poor script and character development puts this in the middle of the franchise in terms of its rating.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Tomorrowland: A World Beyond

Any Disney film, whether it be animated or not always has the potential to be a huge success. But in an era of sequels, prequels and franchises, it is definitely a gamble to go for something original.

We now have their latest live-action spectacle Tomorrowland (based on the theme park within Disneyland), and it is directed by Brad Bird.
He is many peoples favorite director for doing family adventure stories. His filmography includes The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.

Most of his work seems to have been set around the 1950's-60's and have a space exploration related story to it. During a time when the imagination and wonder of space was a huge discussion topic, Bird grasps that era with both hands with a handful of instant classics. Tomorrowland is no different.

One thing I liked about the build-up to this was the general secrecy of the plot, which you don't often see with summer blockbuster trailers these days.
I admired that hugely as every other blockbuster seems to give way too much in trailers to reel in the audiences. Therefore, it leaves us very little surprise moments when actually seeing the film on the big screen.

From the start, you can see Bird's hand-prints all over it. It involves a family with each member having an interesting story. The film is going at a romping pace, and there is a great sense of wonder. Everything I like with his films is in this, especially in the first two-thirds. There is a lot of great action set-pieces including one that has so many references to not only Bird's other films, but a lot of classic sci-fi's that we all know. The gadgets used in this were quite impressive and they almost rivaled the one's used in Niel Blomkamp's sci-fi films.

However, the final third is where it starts to lose it. It starts to lose track of its execution and idea, and we start to come out of the escapism. But thankfully, I still think it just about held it together in the end, and I think it is another success for Bird and his team.
The big problem with the final part was probably the script, which lead by Damon Lindelof, who also did the screenplay for Prometheus. That is a film where I think the writing let itself done despite the amazing potential of it.

The performances as a whole were very good. George Clooney play the male lead and was as good as you know Clooney can be. You feel safe when he is on screen and his character is always confident, self-assured and has great chemistry with his much younger co-stars.
Britt Robertson was a solid female lead. Apparently I've seen her in minor roles in some films, but for me this was my introduction to Robertson. She played her character really well, I cared for her and her transformation throughout for film was an entertaining one.
Hugh Laurie contributed well in his minor role. His voice always sucks you in, so props to the casting team for this choice.
But for me, the star of the show is 12-year old Raffey Cassidy. It may be a minor role, but her charm and sassiness was a huge surprise and I can see her being the biggest positive in everyone else's reviews.
It was also nice seeing Pierce Gagnon play a role after his terrific performance in Looper.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It may not be as much of an instant classic as most of Bird's previous films, but it is a welcomed addition.
The majority of the film is brilliantly made old-fashioned family entertainment. Sadly, the final part of the film is a let-down, was not executed and felt anti-climatic. That will stop me from giving a very good grade. But despite that, this is a great story with a real sense of adventure that we know Bird excels in.
Lindelof was definitely the weak link as his track-record with scripts definitely affected the final set-piece. Like in Prometheus, his script seemed to throw up more questions and not be able to answer them.

However, this film felt really inspiring and was a great throwback to those great sci-fi/adventure classics like E.T., Flight Of The Navigator and many others. I'm glad that something new has been made and done well. I remember hearing Brad Bird declining the role as director for the new Star Wars film as he really wanted to do Tomorrowland. I can see why, as his love and determination is poured all over this enjoyable feature. I hope this gets a lot of love and that my review does not see me as a Brad Bird fan-boy trying to defend it.

Rating: 7/10