It’s unusual for an actor who has gotten his break in a US comedy show, to then go on and make it as the next big screen action hero, but that’s exactly what Chris Pratt has done.

Many will no doubt remember Pratt playing Andy Dwyer for six years in Parks and Recreation, which led to his first action role, of sorts, playing the voice of Emmet in 2014’s The LEGO Movie.

The guys at Marvel must have been impressed with his animated performance, so much so that they cast him as action hero Peter Quill in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.

He continues to flex his acting muscles here, as he tries to save the world in Amazon Prime Video’s The Tomorrow War.

Having not got a job he really wanted as a researcher, science teacher Dan (Pratt) consoles himself with a World Cup party at his house. The game is interrupted in an unusual fashion however, when soldiers appear out of the blue, onto the pitch.

Apparently they are from the future, 30 years from now, and things aren’t going great; aliens have invaded the planet, and they’re keen on the complete annihilation of humankind. The soldiers have travelled through time for a recruitment drive as sorts, as the aliens are kicking their proverbial butts, and they need more bodies to take up the fight. The bad news is however, that less than 30% of those that travel to the future are likely to return, so a draft is put in place to try to make up the numbers.

With his previous training as a Green Beret, Dan gets the call up, and soon finds himself flung into the future and in the middle of a war zone, facing what looks like impossible odds against a formidable alien foe.

It’s not too difficult to see how this high concept feature came about, as it was obviously pitched as what do you get when Aliens meets Terminator? Sure the film lacks subtlety as far as its cinematic influences are concerned, but it’s not that much of an issue, as it manages to sweep you up with some spectacular set pieces.

There’s is something a little odd about Pratt as an action hero however; after years of seeing him as a comedic actor, to now find him running and gunning is a little jarring. At one point he takes his top off and displays an impressive six, possibly twelve pack; and yet having his head attached makes you question whether it might be more CGI at play, because it’s still a little unconvincing to see the Pratt in that buffed up mode. That said, he continues to grow into these more action-packed roles, and is certainly aided by his natural gift for comedy.

Director Chris McKay shows an aptitude for the larger scale film, with it having a kind of event appeal to it, like Independence Day, which is quite a feat considering it’s only his second feature.

There are times however, when it struggles with its pacing, much of it down to some dull family storylines that are given far too much weight and time, which certainly make the two hour and twenty minute duration feel even longer on occasions.

But there’s no denying that The Tomorrow War is the closest to a summer blockbuster we’re likely to see this year, as it fully embraces being a sci-fi spectacle.

It may not be wholly original, but that can occasionally be forgiven, as it can be in this case, when it does such a sterling job in presenting the world in such a deliciously perilous scenario, with gnarly aliens out to destroy the world, and only one man able to stop them. Yes, even if that man is Chris Pratt.