The Tomorrow War is an Amazon original movie starring Chris Pratt and Yvonne Strahovski. It’s a sci-fi action thriller with heart. Being a father and family man, I value how the true story arc revolves around dad & daughter unbreakable love and repairing families. Yes, there’s time travel, massive CG, funny moments, and kickass war with aliens- but reconnection is a hidden gem within the movie. Check out Celebrity Myxer’s review of The Tomorrow War (with exclusive clips,) which is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
What is the plot of The Tomorrow War?
It’s December 2022, Dan Forester (Chris Pratt) is a high school biology teacher aiming to join a new company as the lead researcher. He’s, unfortunately, let down as the company chose someone else for the job. He’s ex-military and starting to question his contributions to the world. The wisest person to encourage him is his 9-year old daughter, Muri.
“We Are You” Scene in ‘The Tomorrow War’
The family hosts a huge Christmas party and while watching the World Cup, the live broadcast is interrupted by a light distortion field and armed soldiers march onto the field. The crowd… the world is shocked at their sudden appearance and ultimately mortified at their message. Lt. Hart (Jasmine Mathews,) a military leader of 2051, tells the world that humanity is near extinction and losing the war against an alien force. “We are you… 30 years in the future,” says Lt. Hart, and she needs to recruit them to help them win a losing war. Because in 11 months, all human beings will be wiped from the face of the Earth (watch the exclusive clip here!)
“You are our last hope…”
Fast-forward a year later and the media is running wild on the global devastation news. The future military has set up ‘jump camps’ all over the world. They are desperately recruiting mothers, fathers, and grandparents regardless of their military experience. In fact, they are thrust into action without even basic training.
Dan is summoned to action immediately. They clamp a device to his arm which is biometrically attached. They tell him he dies 7 years from now. And he has 24 hours to report for duty or else his family would be imprisoned. He wants to run and is forced to ask for the help of the last person he wants to speak with, his father James (J.K. Simmons.) Dan’s estranged dad knows how to elude the government and he wants him to disable the arm device so his family can flee. Their relationship is estranged and he hates him for leaving his family as a child. Their talk did not go well and Dan stormed out vowing never to speak with his father again.
Dan is forced to go to war. He’s doing it to try to save Muri.
New recruits have one week to serve their tour. If they survive a week in the future, they are done. However, only 30% of recruits come back alive or wounded. What’s worse, recruits are not given any visuals or instructions on how to fight the ‘White Spikes.’ These are the projectiles the monsters shot out of their tentacles.
Here’s when we meet Charlie (Sam Richardson) our witty comic relief. (Check out his nervously hilarious exclusive clip!)
‘The Tomorrow War’ A World Of Destruction
Abruptly, Dan and his team are forced to jump into the future and fight. Something went wrong in the coordinates as the time field should have placed jumpers 5 to 10 feet above the ground. Their jump placed them hundreds of feet above a Miami highrise. They lost the majority of their team when they landed atop a rooftop pool only to witness the devastation of the city.
Fight for Tomorrow Scene in ‘The Tomorrow War’
Their mission was to rescue a research crew in the adjacent building. When they arrived and learned the entire team of researchers was killed and they had to extract the toxin serum they were developing. They discover exactly what the White Spikes are, as they attack Dan’s team in the stairwell as they escaped (watch the exclusive clip.)
Dorian (Edwin Hodge) is on the team. His pessimistic view on life is cut-throat blunt. He’s a three-time future war tour vet who warns Dan about trying to save ‘soldiers’ as it would only get them eaten! Dan doesn’t listen and his decision in the battle to save a fallen man gets much of the team wiped out. Ultimately only a handful of them survive- yet they save the toxic serum.
Chris Pratt and Yvonne Strahovski star in ‘The Tomorrow War’
At the FOB, Dan meets the commander in charge of the resistance, Romeo Command (Yvonne Strahovski.) She’s very stark and cold. And we learn why… She’s little Muri, Dan’s daughter! She dismisses any sentiment for him, withholds any backstory, and thrusts him into the next phase of the mission. The capture of a female White Spike.
The female is like the queen of the hive. All of the other monsters are males and they are very protective of her. Like insect species, she’s much larger and stronger. They used the recovered toxic to kill the males but the female is unphased. They must capture her alive in order to study and develop a toxin to kill them all!
The female is starting to obliterate captors and Romeo Command jumps into action to help. However, a large swarm of White Spikes swoops on them and Dan is forced to jump in and help. They manage to capture the female and extract her. This is when Muri dumped everything on Dan…
She told him that he, like his father, divorced her mother and left their family. She was with him when he died and it crushed her. She wanted to be a scientist like him and her research led them thus far but they are losing the war and humanity.
Back at the lab, they heavily sedate the female and extract her DNA in order to develop a toxin to kill them. Upon several attempts, they finally got it right but this was only seconds before a massive hoard of White Spikes attacked the compound. This is the headquarters where the time machine is housed. Muri informs Dan that she needs him to take the toxin to the past to use on the aliens in preventing the war. He does not like that plan because it would mean leaving his daughter behind to die.
This battle is the most visceral and the queen White Spike is freed. She has vengeance set out for Muri. As the female hunts Romeo Command, the soldier manages to burn it while being wounded by one of the spikes. Time is ticking down, Muri is bleeding out, and Dan is there with her. She gives him the toxin and seconds before his jump the female attacks them. The ledge they all were on gives way and the monster tries to pull Muri down with it. Dan grabs Muri but his grip is loosening and time is running out. Muri slips and he dives for her but it immediately transported to the past before he could grab her. The time machine is destroyed.
Now here is where the story arc gets wonky…
Dan, with the help of Charlie, Dorian, and one of his biology students discover the aliens didn’t come to earth 30 years from now and wipe out the planet. But they’ve been here all along- since the tenth century in fact! They want to mass produce the toxin and go to mountainous Russian- the location where they forecasted the aliens to be dormant. For off reasons, a key official in the present would not support their efforts so they enlist the help of Dan’s father to get them there and take on the mission alone.
JK Simmons stars in ‘The Tomorrow War’
The crew find the alien’s ship and learn it was a crash landing, and the White SPikes were weaponized cargo. They found the monsters in cocoons and injected a few of them with the toxin. It melted them like acid. However, a few burst out of their incubators and signal to wake others. Now the team finds themselves in a heated battle.
Chris Pratt stars In ‘The Tomorrow War’
James and Charlie are the backup crew outside the ship in case the White Spikes got out. And the female did manage to get out and passed them. Dan ensued. Dorian decided to sacrifice himself and detonates a massive bomb to destroy the ship.
Dan and his father hunt the last super monster. It was fierce, shooting spikes at them, and attacking. Dan managed to stab a tentacle with the toxin and she started to deteriorate. But the wise foe bit off the limb, stopping the erosion to fight more. The two men managed to jab its eyes out and it blindly tried to kill them. Dan was able to stab it in the mouth with the toxin and kick it over the frozen mountain ledge to its death.
When they returned home, Dan allowed James to see his granddaughter and mend his family- saving the world for tomorrow…
The Tomorrow War Review
3 out of 5
Critics did not love Chris Pratt’s performance in the flick. Scoring it at 55% on the Rotten Tomato meter. We loved the action, the haunting possibility of alien domination, and a war recruiting folks from yesterday. However, we did not find some of the story cohesive. And we must agree, Chris Pratt’s emotional performance missed the mark. We do have to give the story-telling kudos for mending a broken family through disaster and showing the lengths at which a father would go through for his daughter.
The Tomorrow War release date is Friday, July 2nd. It premieres exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Seeking other good movies coming to Prime? Check here!
Did you enjoy the movie? Chat with us in the comments below!
Photo credit: Amazon Studios
The Tomorrow War Cast
The Cast of ‘The Tomorrow War’ Attends Movie Premiere
- Chris Pratt – Dan Forester
- Yvonne Strahovski – Romeo Command/Muri Forester
- Sam Richardson – Charlie
- J.K. Simmons – James Forester
- Jasmine Mathews – Lt. Hart
- Edwin Hodge – Dorian
- Betty Gilpin – Emmy Forester
- Ryan Kiera Armstrong – Young Muri Forester
- David Maldonado – Dodd
- Keith Powers – Major Greenwood
- Mary Lunn Rajskub – Norah
- Mike Mitchell – Cowan
- Alexis Louder – Diablo
- Directed by Chris McKay
Answers to some of your questions about the movie:
Where can I watch The Tomorrow War?
Watch it on Amazon Prime.
Will The Tomorrow War be free on Amazon Prime?
If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, the film is included.
