Escape From Tomorrow - REVIEW

Hearing about this movie before it was released caught my attention. The idea of secretly filming a film INSIDE both Disneyland and Disney World WITHOUT Disney's permission is an unthinkable thing. You would think it's quite impossible to do, but we've been proven wrong. And thus, after searching the bowels of Youtube, I actually found a free HD version of Escape From Tomorrow to watch, and I'm kinda glad I didn't waste $4 from renting it.

PLOT:  An epic battle begins when a middle-aged American husband and father of two learns that he has lost his job. Keeping the news from his nagging wife and wound-up children, he packs up the family and embarks on a full day of park hopping amid enchanted castles and fairytale princesses. Soon, the manuf… Moreactured mirth of the fantasy land around him begins to haunt his subconscious. An idyllic family vacation quickly unravels into a surrealist nightmare of paranoid visions, bizarre encounters, and an obsessive pursuit of a pair of sexy teenage Parisians.

Yeah, I'm still shocked Disney didn't call their lawyers.

Escape From Tomorrow wasn't a bad film, but it wasn't the greatest. It's decent. However, I do applaud the film for its risk-taking role of filming in the parks and the director's preparations on how he would shoot the film (6 months of preparation). From its low budget, the film was impressive regarding effects. Sure, there were some notable green screen shots that brought me out of this world, but I was impressed with the limits the director had. The black and white noir look the film had also worked for the film's disturbing nature.

Acting wasn't the best, but it was tolerable. The writing, however, is what suffers in this film. The film's plot is really absurd and "out there" compared to the plot given in the description above. The story adds on different things in the film that confused me when they were introduced. The film suffers from fully explaining what the conflict really is. There are multiple enemies in the film and you aren't sure which enemy is important or useless. Escape From Tomorrow fails to provide a proper antagonist and a proper ending. The ending (disturbing, yes) had me confused. Those who will watch this will leave the film scratching their heads wondering what the hell just happened.

Though the film suffered writing/story issues, it was average. Once again, I was beyond amazed with the methods used to film this in a Disney park. I kept asking myself throughout the film how they managed to pull this off, and somehow, they did. I would only watch the film again for that only. Other than that, it's best watching this only once.


Rating:  5.5/10