As the trailer reveals, this movie is all about traveling not just through time but through dimension. It begins with a nostalgic romp amid Walt Disney's dreams for the future, as expressed at the 1964 World's Fair (making this movie one that even Grandma and Grandpa may want in on), and quickly launches into a science-based roller-coaster ride that was nothing short of an epiphany for my gobsmacked 11-year-old. The ride includes kid inventors stumbling into other worlds, teens with drones breaking into NASA, and one mysterious tween girl who kicks like an army of Bruce Lees and seems to know more than everyone else combined. The action is almost nonstop, and the motivation of most of the characters is a puzzle to be put together as they run. Good guys? Bad guys? We're never really clear until the end; and even then my son was talking about the different ways of looking at Hugh Laurie's character all the way home.

But for all that ambiguity, one thing is crystal clear throughout: the world can only be saved through optimism. Tomorrowland is a high-tech, explosion-driven, star-studded public service announcement for believing in your dreams, taking hold of your own destiny, and—above all—using your brain for all it's worth.

As far as parental concerns, I give this film all the stars in my pocket for big kids; through all the explosions and relentless threat of peril, no human actually dies, and hardly a curse word is uttered. I didn't have to explain any age-inappropriate sexual behavior either, and the only characters who actually get blown up are robots who were kind of asking for it anyway. The stakes are high—very, very high—throughout, but our kids are safely delivered out the other end. My son squealed out loud a few times, but it was that roller-coaster kind of squeal, when you feel you can't take anymore and then suddenly get yanked in the other direction.

Having made it this far without letting slip any significant spoilers, I'll quit while I'm ahead, save for one more shout out for the real joy I felt at seeing a movie that has all the thrills and action a teen or adult could want in a movie, but with a powerful message of optimism, planetary stewardship, and personal responsibility. It also packs one heck of a lot of girl power, but presented in a way that just feels like youth power; this is not a girl movie or a boy movie, but it sure is one fabulous mom-and-tween movie.

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