HOLLYWOOD—I am just like any other spectator, I love a great disaster flick, but in recent years we’ve seen quite a few. Rather it be, “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Deep Impact,” “The Perfect Storm” “Twister” or “San Andreas” to name a few. Well, the latest entry into the genre with “Geostorm.” This disaster flick stars action-star Gerard Butler as Jake Lawson, a satellite designer who is the mastermind of the project aimed to control climate worldwide.
“Geostorm” is a flick like many in cinematic history, where humans attempt to play God and manipulate science, and things never go well, and this movie takes that notion to grand scales. Weather is a fascinating beast, and this flick takes those visuals of thunderstorms, tidal waves, hurricanes, excessive winds, snow and rain to heights that seem unimaginable; it’s absolutely enthralling to see the visual effects on the big screen, but that alone can’t say a movie.
If we’re speaking about the impact of visual effects, “Geostorm” is leaps and bounds ahead of many flicks nowadays. However, when it comes to narrative this flick is so far-fetched I cannot believe anyone imagined this plot would even float with a slate of realism. If anyone had the power to control the weather, wouldn’t the goal be to have perfect temperatures all the time? One would think that, but the notion of a satellite having the ability to pinpoint storms (we already know that from actual technology) is not out of the realm of reality.
So you might think all is well, nope, “Geostorm” takes the idea of a natural disaster film and intertwines a conspiracy element as the driving force. Yes, someone is looking to manipulate the weather to destroy cities across the globe in an effort to become the next President of the United States, while also taking out America’s enemies at the same time. It’s almost like a terrorist film meets “Twister,” but it is so laughable, as the plot unfolds, you seriously have to look at the person next to you to question if anything being depicted on the big screen is REALLY happening.
The film does not lack star power; I mean we have Jim Strugess, Ed Harris, Andy Garcia, Richard Schiff, Daniel Wu and Abbie Cornish. The problem is this corporate conspiracy is so extreme, even if I wanted to take the film seriously I could never in a million years. A lot of the characters come across flat, one-note and without any ump to make one actually care. The failure of the flick is more disheartening knowing that the flick was helmed by Dean Devlin, who is responsible for producing great movies like “Independence Day,” “Godzilla” and “The Patriot.”
Even Devlin who is capable of crafting greatness on a piece of paper couldn’t save this script without a major re-write, and eliminating the notion of a conspiracy theory. If you enter the theater hoping for pure entertainment from “Geostorm” you will likely leave the theater thinking you just watched one of the most convoluted movies in decades.
