“Tomorrowland,” of course, is a Brad Bird movie, the comic meister who gave us “The Iron Giant,” “Incredibles” and “Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol.” Next question?

Now in cinema bed with Disney, Brad gives us “Tomorrowland,” and things slide big time.

A friend of Dennis Hopper and mine said that Dennis claimed “Apocolypse Now” was best seen stoned, and Dennis would know. That could work here.

I’m not advocating anything, but if you’re on medical marijuana, this is your date night flick.

Basically, it’s a big, noisy fun fest for 12 year olds who are only stoned on sugar. Take the kids. Take the neighbor’s kids. Adopt some kids and take them. Popcorn and soda are extra.

What do we learn? We learn that superior forces abound who are dedicated to making this a better world, and darker, more monied forces are dedicated to ending it, at least for all those but them.

Advertisement

It will come to pass that dark side will be challenged by an unemployed astro technician’s brilliant super techie daughter Casey (a very good Britt Robertson “Under the Dome,” “Dan in Real Life.”)

In the opening sequences, we get George Clooney as displaced inventor Frank Walker, telling someone a story, and then the story opens.

We meet little Thomas Robinson who is George as a boy. Little George has invented a jetpack forged from a vacuum cleaner. He takes it to the 1964 Worlds Fair to convince the adults he can make it work. It doesn’t, but he refuses to give up. At the fair he is befriended by a strange little girl who knows too much about him. Watch her.

This is where the GPS starts and never stops. Actually, it’s incredible, or as the kid in front of me said 18 times, “Awesome.” It’s really worth seeing this movie just for the effects. Special effects tire me, but sometimes when you’re OD’ing on popcorn and Coke and television on the 48-inch screen is really bad, “Tomorrow” is just fun.

I confess I couldn’t hear that much of the soft-spoken dialogue over all the rocket noise, but you don’t have to hear anything to follow the plot. There are roadsigns all over the place.

“Tomorrowland” is chockablock with good actors young and old: Hugh Laurie, now unleashed from “House,” is here as a Disneyland-like guide at the World’s Fair. Keep an eye on him. This is Hugh Laurie with those suspicious eyes, and Laurie doesn’t do one-note characters.

Advertisement

George is George, and like Cary Grant, he does handsome and lovable better than anyone.

Only in “Oh Brother” did he get to show his brilliant box of moves. I wish he would go back to that.

The kids: Thomas Robinson, Pierce Gagnon, and others running around are very good. But it’s young Raffey Cassidy as an A.I. child who excels. She’ll break your heart in the last 10 minutes.

There is a lot of space age weaponry and humans we know aren’t humans here, much like we got in “Men In Black” and “Blade Runner.”

“Tomorrowland” is basically two movies: the first part is wired to hook the kiddies and sell popcorn. The second half, loaded with Laurie, Clooney and Brit Robertson is a much better movie, and gives the adults a reason to wake up and pay attention.

“Tomorrowland” is playing at Flagship Cinemas, where it’s competing with ” Mad Max: Fury Road,” “San Andreas” with Los Angeles being destroyed in 3-D and “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Can you hear me? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

J.P. Devine is a former stage and screen actor.