If you change the channel in the dead of night and find that you are 30 minutes into a film chances are that you will be able to follow what’s going on.  It’s a testament to the language of film that you can instantly follow the beats, and it helps that there are only so many stories, but give it a minute and you’ll catch up with who’s seeking revenge, who loves who and why Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks a bit Bruce Willis-ish.

Walk in 30 minutes late to Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland and you won’t have to do any work.  Nothing of note has happened.  Not a single plot or character point that has any relevance to the rest of the film.  Later you’ll be treated several scenes that happen twice; people go somewhere and get attacked by robots, twice, people take a mysterious form of hidden transport, twice, people explain stuff, endlessly.  The rest is a mishmash of movies that you’ve already seen and not in a good way like when Joseph Gordon-Levitt looked a bit Bruce Willis-ish.

It’s the brightest dismal movie that you’ll see this year and it’s suffocating what could have been a fun 90 minutes.