This is Disney unashamedly making a two hour travelogue for their brand and their unbeatable Theme Parks.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not knocking the ‘House of Mouse’, I love Disney and always will - even though they are slowly taking over the movie world by swallowing up all of our favourite franchises with Marvel, The Muppets, Star Wars.
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Not forgetting that they are still at the top of the animation food chain churning out classics of the future such as Big Hero 6, Tangled and, of course, Frozen.

And talking of the future, Tomorrowland: A World Beyond is Disney’s latest idea to take a popular theme park experience and turn it into a money making movie as they did with Pirates of the Caribbean.

The actual Tomorrowland was created in 1955 in the original Disneyland set in California. Due to the highly advanced technology that Disney developed for their rides and shows the Company was invited to design three innovative sections for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.

One of the choices was a ride called ‘It’s a Small World’ which is still a popular ride in 2015. The other two creations were clever animatronic shows, one featuring a walking talking animatronic Abraham Lincoln and another called Carousel of Progress. All three were way before their time.

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This is where the Tomorrowland (the movie) story begins. The first thing we see is a close up of a fifty something male who the audience instantly recognise as a certain George Clooney and I could actually hear several intakes of breath by women in the auditorium (You’ve still got it George!).

Clooney plays Frank Walker a one-time boy genius who is now narrating directly to the camera trying to tell his extraordinary story but being intermittently interrupted by a female voice off camera. This is quite a funny opening.

Soon we are back in 1964 at the World’s Fair and a young Frank (Thomas Robinson) steps off a bus carrying a huge canvass zip up bag which we discover contains a home-made jet pack made up of household items such as the body of an Electrolux vacuum cleaner.

Frank has come to the fair to be discovered as a great inventor but is turned down by one of the judges David Nix played by our own Hugh Laurie. A young eleven year-old girl Athena, (brilliantly played by English actress Raffey Cassidy) who is at the fair with Nix, disagrees with his decision and says that she sees something special in Frank and that he ‘is the one’.

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Athena is a scout for people with a special talent and tells Frank to follow them through the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride which ends up with him being energised away to an alternate world where he can play an important part in the Earth’s future.

The narrative then switches to modern day and follows another budding genius in the form of a young teenager called Casey Newton (I know!) played by Britt Robertson.

Casey has also been chosen by a never aging 11-year old Athena who plants a metal badge or pin as they call them on Casey which has the ability to transport her to another dimension while being in the same space…if you know what I mean.

Obviously where there is good there is bound to be evil. Casey is pursued by killer robots and she is told the only person that can help her is a man called Frank Walker.

And so a double act is formed with this young optimistic woman and this grumpy angry scientist.

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The film is directed by a Disney prodigy Brad Bird (The Incredibles 2004, Ratatouille 2007, The Iron Giant 1999 and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol 2011) who does a fantastic job of creating a visually stunning spectacle and takes us back to 1964 with a nostalgic feel and the scenes with the young Frank Walker (who is a mini-me of Mr Clooney and plays his part superbly) is by far one of my favourite sections of the film running a close second is the amazing Eiffel Tower scene.

I would say that this is a family film but due to a few random killings by the humanoid robots and maybe a mild swear word from Hugh Laurie which got a lot of laughs warranted it having a 12A certificate. But the film can really be enjoyed by all with the action, adventure and mystery that is carried throughout the films story.

However, I think the film is a tad too long in its two hour running time which slows a bit in the middle section. It also has a message which is often synonymous with Disney. Once again hope is what us humans should be working towards and not giving in to the pessimistic attitude to the world problems.

This is summed up in a speech by Hugh Laurie’s character who plays the good guys' nemesis in charge of Tomorrowland.

Laurie laps up this character role throwing in a few well-delivered witty one liners in his native English accent which the Americans are probably not used to as they only know him from the medical drama House.

 The film is a strange mix of fantastic jaw dropping scenes and excitingly choreographed fights (Athena can kick ass!) but also a few unexplained and unexpanded storylines and the ending was a bit like a glossy TV ad.

But did I enjoy it? Yes I did. It’s very stylish and there are plenty of Disney / movie in-jokes to look out for and I recommend you see it at an Imax cinema to get the full effect.

See the trailer below.

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In cinemas from Friday May 22.