REVIEW: “Greenland" Is The Best Disaster Film in Years But Far From Perfect

ForReel Score 8/12 | 3.5 Stars

Another year, Another disaster movie at the end of 2020 no less. Still, while Greenland isn't going to blow anyone away at the Oscar’s it succeeds in being different than it’s predecessors in a significant way: ditch the drawn out destruction scenes focus on the family at hand.

In Greenland, Gerard Butler (Angel Has Fallen, 300) and Morena Baccarin (Deadpool) are parents John and Allison trying to mend their fragmented marriage while taking care of their 7 year old diabetic son. Meanwhile, approaching Earth is a comet that we're all told may put on a show but isn’t a credible threat to safety. After finding out the hard way they’d all been lied to when a fragment wipes out a nearby city in Florida. John & co. attempt to make it to secure shelters in Greenland but first must dodge even more comet fragments & people who will do anything to survive this end of days scenario.

You get what you expect from Gerard Butler but Baccarin helps to drive the emotional weight of the situation they find themselves in both in marriage & comet debris. The VFX are average & the filmmakers clearly didn’t want to spend too much time focusing on comet explosions ect. (I'm looking at you, Micheal Bay). The story, while generic and unoriginal, had relatable characters & real world relationships. I enjoyed Greenland because it shined a light on blind trust in government and the results that inevitably follow. After 2020, that’s a poignant message.

In the end, Greenland will scratch your annual disaster film itch but with more focus on the characters at hand. It's a step in the right direction for a genre more concerned with wide scale destruction. In that way, Greenland did in fact shelter us from said destruction.

Acting and Casting - 1 | Visual Effects and Editing - 1 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 2 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 2 |