To­mor­row­land is a story of dashed dreams and recovered optimism.

In 1964, eleven-year-old Frank Walker meets a girl called Athena who takes him from the World’s Fair into a futuristic city called To­mor­row­land. In the present day, where doom and gloom reign, a teenager called Casey hasn’t given up hope of a better future. She is recruited by Athena—­some­how no older—to save the world. Casey finds Frank, who is embittered at having been cast out of paradise decades ago. They find their way back into the now-desolate To­mor­row­land and destroy the machine that’s casting a pall of despair across our world.

If that sounds incoherent, that’s because the film is an expensive mess, and far from Brad Bird’s best work. Casey and Frank and Athena run around a lot, but it’s hard to care.