Read the review after the jump.
GEOSTORM
Review by Popa RazvanAfter working together on such disaster epics as "Independence Day", "Godzilla" and "The Day After Tomorrow", Roland Emmerich's frequent collaborator, writer/producer Dean Devlin decided to make his directorial debut with "Geostorm", a by-the-numbers disaster flick that bombed at the box-office and lost Warner Bros. a considerable sum of money.
The film opens with a voice-over narration and a montage of how humanity was nearly wiped out by the catastrophic effects of global climate change, but an international alliance managed to reverse the damage with the help of Gerard Butler's Jake Lawson, who designed and led the construction of a climate-controlling network of satellites called "Dutch Boy". Lawson is subsequently removed from his position as chief architect, 'cause he's an irreverent pain in the ass, and he's replaced by his brother Max (Jim Sturgess), adding sibling strife to the menu of cliches.
Three years later, Dutch Boy starts to act out, creating extreme natural disasters in certain places around the planet. So, the U.S. President, Andrew Palma (Andy Garcia), orders an investigation aboard the International Climate Space Station, and Max manages to convince Jake to conduct it. At this point, "Geostorm" becomes less a disaster movie and more of a whodunit, as Butler discovers a conspiracy may be afoot aboard Dutch Boy. It's an interesting twist on the genre, but not a particularly involving one, as the bad guys aren't very interesting, and their motivations are pretty generic, and the investigation bits are pretty much just filler before the next big set piece.
And now let's talk about the important stuff. The big disaster sequences. Unfortunately, what should have been a highlight is actually much less impressive than stuff we've already seen in blockbusters like "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012". There are also some astronaut sequences basically ripped off from "Gravity" that just feel flat and dull. The film reportedly cost around $120 million to produce, and yet we still get bad CGI and poorly conceived set pieces ripped off from other, better films. The only thing setting this movie apart from its much cheaper direct-to-video relatives is how much the damn thing cost. They must have been laundering money on this movie, because what's on screen feels cheap as hell.
While the action sequences fall incredibly short of greatness, the film feels more fun when it follows the mystery narrative. The actors have decent charisma and play well against each other despite the cringey dialogue, and there are occasional moments of humor that work better than expected. The writing is generic by any blockbuster standard, but it doesn't take itself too seriously, and it helps.
It doesn't require much of an essay to sum up what a movie like "Geostorm" is all about. It's yet another dumb sci-fi disaster epic, which could have been a whole lot better if it had a director capable of turning its silly script into a guilty pleasure. There's still some enjoyment to be had if you're not too demanding and it would be highly recommended to just rent it if you absolutely have to see whether or not Butler saves the world. If only someone could have saved this movie from its own mediocrity.
TRAILER
THE VERDICT
THE GOOD:
- Mildly diverting mix of mystery thriller and disaster epic
- The cast makes a solid effort to keep the movie going
THE BAD:
- Mediocre visual effects
- Poorly conceived set pieces
- Production values worthy of a direct-to-video movie
- Terrible writing and directing
ENTERTAINMENT FACTOR SCORE: 50%
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