England might have enjoyed a glorious victory over Germany earlier this week, but imagine how you'd feel if just before Sterling scored, a bunch of future humans travelled through a portal onto the pitch and announced humanity was doomed.
You might think that we've gone on a tangent just to talk about Euro 2020, but The Tomorrow War genuinely opens with a World Cup final being interrupted by such an event. In 2051, humanity is losing a war against deadly aliens and the only hope for survival is for present-day humans to travel to the future and fight.
In terms of a one-line sell for an original sci-fi movie, it's a corker that instantly grabs your attention. Time travel, aliens, and a race against time? We were sold on it immediately, even faster than the time it took for everyone to chant "it's coming home" after England beat Germany.
The Tomorrow War might not fully deliver on its brilliant premise, but it's still an epic and original sci-fi trip that's worth taking.
Watch The Tomorrow War on Amazon Prime Video
Our guide through this world is Chris Pratt, somebody who's no stranger to sci-fi adventures – but Dan Forester is no Star-Lord. An army veteran turned high school teacher, he's not a wise-cracking hero and when we meet him, he's dealing with a job rejection and struggling with his role in life.
He doesn't instantly decide to travel into the future to fight some aliens. After the dramatic opening, we jump forward 12 months where we're told that, initially, active military personnel were sent.
However, only 50% of them were qualified due to timey-wimey reasons that we won't spoil here, leading to the first-ever worldwide draft of civilian soldiers for a war that has a 20% survival rate. (Perhaps the most terrifying thing about the movie's future though is that apparently Theresa May and Gordon Brown are back in political power in December 2023.)
With the setup out of the way, it becomes time for Dan to join the future fight in order to save the world for his young daughter and it's in this opening act where The Tomorrow War is at its strongest. Dan isn't instantly in 'save the world' mode and tries to get his estranged – and surprisingly buff – father (JK Simmons) to get him out of it. We know he'll eventually go, but the movie takes an interesting route there at least.
The Tomorrow War also sets up its version of time travel in a cohesive and engaging way in this opening act (although as with any time travel, don't think about it too much). Then it's time to head to 2052 as Dan heads into the future with nervous everyman Charlie (a scene-stealing Sam Richardson) and future war veteran Dorian (Edwin Hodge).
Their arrival into the future is genuinely horrific as it inevitably goes wrong and the first action sequence is terrific, packed with genuine peril and believable civilian soldiers moments. We also get our first glimpse of the movie's menacing aliens, the White Spikes, who are not only relentless, but can also shoot spikes from their bodies (hence the name), and they're realised with excellent visual effects.
But after this strong first hour or so, the movie hits the brakes, and what seemed fresh turns generic. It's here where Dan teams up with Yvonne Strahovski's scientist and engaging supporting characters Charlie and Dorian get sidelined for a dull subplot, as well as a reveal that any sci-fi fan will see coming a mile off.
It's not helped by the fact that while Chris Pratt has charisma to burn as an action star, Dan is no Star-Lord and quite dull as a lead, outshone by the supporting cast. Given we spend relatively little time with Strahovski's character, the emotional beats don't land as hard as they should, so you'll be left wishing you were following Charlie and Dorian instead.
Things do get back on track in the final third with some fairly ludicrous reveals, but the movie seems to be self-aware enough to be in on the joke. It's a tense and well-staged climax that satisfyingly wraps things up and, ironically given the premise of the movie, doesn't have an eye on the future.
It should be celebrated that The Tomorrow War is an original offering in a summer blockbuster season that is otherwise full of sequels and movies based on existing IP. Given it was originally set for a cinema release, the scale is impressive and it's a testament to its strongest moments that you'll wish you could have seen it on the big screen.
The Tomorrow War might not totally get everything right, especially with its pacing, but it's a thrilling sci-fi adventure all the same. Let's just hope it doesn't happen for real during the Euro 2020 final which England will obviously be in (right?).
The Tomorrow War is out now on Amazon Prime Video.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
