"Greenland" Isn't Special, But It's Good Enough
7/12 ForReel Score | 3/5 Stars
The sky is falling, and Gerard Butler has his family to save. The concept lends itself to being another VFX saturated turn-off-your-brain action flick. Well for the most part, what you see is what you get in Greenland. However, there are components of the film that make it worth a watch. And with enough suspension of disbelief, it’s likely you might walk away having enjoyed this tense ride to the end of the world.
In Greenland, Gerard Butler (Angel Has Fallen, Hunter Killer) and Morena Baccarin (Deadpool) play upper middle class parents John and Allison struggling to hold their marriage together while raising their diabetic 7 year old son. Meanwhile, approaching Earth is a fragmented comet that governments and astronomers promise will be a non-threatening spectacle. But when the first of the comet pieces hits Florida, John is notified that he and his family have been chosen for transport to a secure shelter. Amidst dangerous falling debris and a deteriorating society, they have to find their way to safety before an impending planet-killing piece of the comet strikes.
There is a lot that holds Greenland back from being as great of a film as it could’ve been. It whimsically navigates its protagonists through a variety thrilling circumstances in pursuit of an idealistic ending. Random and unprompted conflicts arise in efforts to shake up the predictable story. The main characters get unbelievably lucky an unbelievable number of times. Impossible situations resolve themselves too conveniently. Disaster warnings come during or after the event occurs for dramatic effect. Buzzer beater races from one destination to the next make up much of the film's entertainment value. And (without spoiling too much) Greenland doesn’t exactly crack the code on how to end a disaster film uniquely. It’s clear that writer Chris Sparling (writer of Buried) and director Ric Roman Waugh (stuntman turned filmmaker, writer and director of London Has Fallen) are not concerned about reinventing the wheel on the apocalyptic disaster genre with this one.
The movie also misses opportunities to make hard-hitting statements about real world topics, like the nature of desperate human behavior, the distrust in/inefficiencies of government, or the fallibility of mankind, which are all present themes overshadowed by routine and uninspired storytelling and blatantly amateur VFX work. The framework that shapes Greenland is less than compelling. But what makes this movie so engaging is the mood and tone it generates from suspense and anticipation in relation to the ongoing disaster. It’s two hours of putting yourself in these characters shoes and speculating what you would do in these extraordinary circumstances.
So critically, Greenland doesn’t hold up as a storytelling experience or a believable analysis of people in their last days of civilization as we know it. But there is an entertaining nature to Greenland that, despite its flaws, keeps you wanting to journey with these characters to the end. And the film does carry a surprisingly emotional punch, thanks in large part to Baccarin’s performance and an unexpectedly sentimental climax. Greenland showers itself with the detrimental debris of cinema sins, but manages to narrowly avoid being a disaster itself.
Acting and Casting - 1 | Visual Effects and Editing - 0 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 2 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 1 | What does this mean?