With a touch of the relentlessly gung-ho, alien-splattering wallop of Starship Troopers, and a cursory nod to the father-daughter connection mined in Interstellar, the Amazon Original production The Tomorrow War is not charting much in the way of new sci-fi territory. It is, however, a solid and at times spectacular action picture, starring Chris Pratt as an ex-soldier turned science teacher who is drafted to take part in a war against alien invaders, 30 years in the future.

The creature design is first-rate – the aliens are ravenous, rapid and equipped with a pair of death tentacles. And Pratt, and in particular Betty Gilpin as his wife, give likable, grounded performances. But the screenplay is a bloated, unwieldy thing that is at least 30 minutes longer than it should be.