A sci-fi war movie involving time travel and plenty of daddy, Chris McKay’s issues The war of tomorrow has so much to do that even its protagonists are in a hurry: ordinary civilians who have been drafted to go and fight alien monsters in the future, they only receive a few days of military training before facing the enemy (very scary). Thankfully, their leader is pre-trained: As a biology professor who has also led troops in Iraq, Chris Pratt’s Dan Forester is the right man for now, though the time won’t come for 30 years. years.

Action-packed and family-centric in a solidly commercial way, the photo may miss that something that would have made him huge in theaters (his planned theatrical debut was scrapped by the pandemic), but it will be very. entertainment in addition to Amazon’s streaming menu.

Forester is a family man who has felt dissatisfied since the end of his tour of duty. Teaching science might be noble, but what he really wants is research work. His sweet daughter Muri (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) believes in him, however, and emulates his desire to be the best at something. The secret, Dan told him, is to insist on your own: “I will do what no one else is willing to do. “

Then a soccer game they are watching is interrupted by a sci-fi crackle in the air above the midfield. A few serious-looking young people appear out of nowhere and announce: “we are you, thirty years in the future”. We learn that the future Earth is infested with countless fast-breeding beasts nicknamed White Spikes (after the bony projectiles they shoot from their tentacles), who seemingly want nothing more than to eat every human on the planet. . There are only half a million of us left, fighting a war that now seems doomed.

In need of a new stream of cannon fodder, the generals turned to an experimental time travel device, going back three decades to ask their parents to join the fight. Over the next year, more and more of today’s Earthlings – first soldiers, then ordinary people – are sent into the future and their death very likely. A strong anti-war movement is growing: why should we sacrifice ourselves for a crisis that is not even happening yet? (Screenwriter Zach Dean certainly knows he has a nice metaphor for the climate change debate here. Luckily, he lets us connect those dots for ourselves.)

Viewers will have their own ideas and questions on how a time machine could be used in an apocalypse like this. Dean responds just enough of them – no frills, “that’s the way it is” – for us to enjoy the version of Vortex Wars he chose to deliver.

When he is enlisted, Dan’s wife (Betty Gilpin) insists he won’t go. His dodge flirtation seems inconsistent with the man Dan appears to be, but the script requires cheating in order to introduce a character that has haunted Dan: James (JK Simmons), the father who abandoned him, who is now a government anti-hermit putting his engineering skills to good use. Don’t believe it when Dan angrily announces that James won’t get a second chance to be part of his family.

Dan shows up for work, of course, and has about two minutes to bond with his colleague called Charlie, also a scientist, who is terrified of their mission (as usual, Sam Richardson provides understated and pleasant comedic relief. ). The two look on suspiciously at Dorian (Edwin Hodge), a scary and serious dude who turns out to have voluntary for this, after having lived two previous tours fighting the Spikes.

Their deployment in the future does not go as planned, and Dan finds himself leading a search and rescue operation in a city on the verge of carpet bombardment. Many of the intriguing developments from here on out shouldn’t be wasted. What can be said is that creature-maker Ken Barthelmey earned his salary, making the beasts worthy to flee; and that McKay, between directing The Lego Batman movie and its upcoming sequel, do pretty well with the flesh-and-blood actors working in the action. While the movie is chock-full of overly practical coincidences and relies on one or two other questionable plot points to make its emotional arc work, the Monster Slaying works well enough that few complain.

The thrill ride reaches what appears to be a natural end point; three or four lines of dialogue are all it would take to provide an emotional and logical closure. But Dean gets things done, adding a long, daring mission that, unless you’re having enough fun to completely suspend disbelief, is just the tiniest bit of plausibility. Then again, you’re watching a movie in which a few scientists could wipe out an unstoppable horde of monsters while jumping through time. Leave your nitpicking at the door.