Geostorm

Hollywood is full of actors, who have the ability to choose very different genre films. Some actors are actually really good at choosing their characters, just look at Jake Gyllenhaal. He really knows how to try different ways, to make the character powerful. I personally think he have proved this, in such films as Enemy and of course in Nightcrawler. Do i have to mention how good he is in David Fincher´s fantastic thriller Zodiac with actor Robert Downey Jr. ? We have of course many actors to choose between, who clearly knows what they are doing, especially Jennifer Lawrence. Then we have those actors that do try to take on different genre films, but don´t have the acting ability to do so correctly. You might be thinking about actor Jennifer Aniston right now, but i am actually thinking about actor Gerard Butler. This is a man who really have taken some wild swings, when it comes to choosing movies. There have been a few good choices, such as 300, and of course one of my favourite films with Gerard, known as Law Abiding Citizen with actor Jamie Foxx. Actually, i still think the crime thriller Law Abiding Citizen is worth watching on Netflix, or renting. Over the years, it has become clear that Gerard Butler have tried to push the limits, doing a very awful performance in Movie 43, and delivered a very forgettable performance in Gods Of Egypt ( that at least is a film you can laugh with ). It seems that Gerard is still trying to take on whatever he can, and i noticed that he have several upcoming films on the way, so he might have a surprise waiting for us. Earlier this spring, i came across a trailer for Gerard´s new film called Geostorm. It seemed to be some kind of mix of Roland Emerich disaster film 2012, and have influences from disaster films such as Volcano. Well all know how these films usually are, you can pretty much figure out the plots pretty quickly. Even if i could tell by the trailer, that Geostorm does not look very original, i always try and check out disaster action films. The cast looks good, and how can you say no to actor Andy Garcia as The President Of United States ? Exactly, we all wanted to experience this. Is the new film Geostorm a disaster film that actually delivers solid action, or should it be buried underneath the volcanos of Island, for all eternity ?

Following a series of extreme natural disasters, an international coalition commissions " Dutch Boy ", a system of satellites designed to control climate on a global scale. After Dutch Boy neutralizes a massive typhoon before it can hit Shanghai, a Senate sub-committee reprimands chief architect Jake Lawson ( Gerard Butler ) for activating satellites without their approval, and replaces him with his brother Max Lawson ( Jim Sturgess ), who works under Secretary of State Leonard Dekkom ( Ed Harris ). 3 years have passed and Jake is living a quiet life with his daughter Hannah Lawson ( Talitha Eliana Bateman ). Until one day, when Jake´s brother Max shows up, he needs his brother to investigate the International Climate Space Station ( ICSS ), after some serious weather conditions have occurred in Afghanistan, where a United Relations field team comes across a frozen village. An engineer working for ICSS, stole data from the Afghanistan satellite, and Jake needs to locate the missing hard drive. With more serious weather changes on the way, more innocent people will be lost, unless Jake and his team can stop the superstorm.

When a film is so bad, that it actually becomes fun to watch, you know you are in for a good time ( especially the dialogue ). In fact, this film is supposed to be serious, taking on subjects like global warming. But you can´t take the film serious, because the message goes out completely wrong. The cast acts really bad, the CGI effects are not in world class, and the plot is as thin as P Diddy´s constant name changes. You could say that Geostorm is a film, that tries to be another version of all the natural disaster films you have seen. But it is very hard to see the point of the film, if this was really meant to be a serious film. The plot is very simple, and you don´t really need to think about what is going on. Everything is explained ( well, almost ), in a very predictable way. To see actors like Gerard Butler, Ed Harris and Andy Garcia in a film like Geostorm is one of the most odd film experiences for me personally this year. All 3 of them have made good films, so they should be able to make great characters feel interesting. But that is one problem with this film, you don´t really feel interested in the characters, so it basically comes to what the action scenes looks like. The CGI is not as good as you would expect, considering the film´s budget around 120 million dollars. Remember the CGI in Gods Of Egypt ? Well, you have some similar special effects here as well, but in space instead of in Egypt. The explosions, and the buildings falling apart will probably look awsome for a 15 year old, but for us who loves good looking disaster films such as San Andreas with Dwayne " The Rock " Johnson, we can´t be filled with happiness. So is there anything good about Geostorm at all ? I think the mixture of disaster action and the serious tone, becomes so funny in some scenes, that i can´t stop laughing. And this is a good sign, when you can laugh in a film, that is not meant to be a comedy. And for that i have to say, this is something that does not happen very often in this film genre. Director Dean Devlin is a legendary producer with many great classics in his days of Hollywood, such as Universal Soldier, Stargate and Independence Day. Geostorm is actually his full feature directorial debut as an director, and it is such as shame that he did not deliver more with this material. With a great cast, and a fun idea, Geostorm could have been a film for those who loves Roland Emmerich´s film 2012. Instead, it is a film most people will forget. China actually helped Geostorm by bringing in over 60 million dollars at the box office. That won´t help the film from the financial failure the film have done in America. But one thing is clear, if we do get a sequel, China clearly want to see more of Gerard Butler in space.

Rating: DD