Review of Geostorm (2017) by Kaptenvideo — 28 Dec 2017

No matter how fine their taste, I believe that anybody can enjoy an occasional B-movie now and then. The opinions differ only on what makes a good one.

The president of the USA, far-reaching conspiracy, the world in danger, a few good (wo)men doing what is right, impending big disaster – if these keywords fit your cup of B, then „Geostorm“ may have what it takes to entertain you for 109 minutes and leave a good aftertaste.

When the network of satellites designed to control the global climate starts to attack the planet instead, it's a race against the clock to uncover the real threat before a worldwide geostorm wipes out everything and everyone.

Most of the story actually takes place in space, so considerable part of the visual effects budget has been spent to show us the International Space Station, satellites and the big cold void that we like to call the universe. And after having your fill of „cosmos porn“, there are big natural disaster scenes to fall back on.

The disasters dominate the promoting materials but are actually in minority, and mostly mercifully short. They look awesome but are not essential to the story and thus tend to even somewhat disrupt the general atmosphere and flow. Especially near finale, which is mercifully short too. Because good entertainment should always know when to end and not stretch over two hours or something.

Starring Gerard Butler – the unsung hero and go-to guy to any self-respecting B- or generic movie – who is joined by a surprisingly large and impressive cast including Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Talitha Eliana Bateman, Adepero Oduye, Ed Harris, Andy Garcia, Alexandra Maria Lara, Daniel Wu, Eugenio Derbez, and Amr Waked.

It’s also worth noting that almost all major female characters are written as strong individuals and don’t rely on their looks (although they do look good of course).

This approach is something that freshens and updates the general vibe reminiscent of the big dumb 1990’s movie that the director and co-writer Dean Devlin became really famous for originally, meaning „Independence Day“. Back then, of course, he was just a writer and co-creator with Roland Emmerich, here he debuts as director too.

But cool actors, strong female characters and even big-budget special effects will only get you so far, when the movie is lacking the most essential of elements: heart.

And „Geostorm“ has a lot of heart, which is the main reason I liked and enjoyed it so much – in spite of its weak storytelling where things mainly happen because they are ought to, not develop naturally.

It’s a minor miracle that despite all the unrealistic-ness and cheesiness of the story – it's a B-movie, after all – the actors are so spot on, full of heart and conviction that you just have to buy all this what’s happening on screen.

This is probably thanks to Devlin’s brilliance at putting together this kind of big cheesy thing. It was about time he started directing too!

Leading star Gerard Butler, in some movies just a poor man’s Aaron Eckhart, is in especially good form, a shining example of how to breathe life into otherwise generic material, and grab us along with the ride.

If you think that spouting all these silly lines and making it feel believable must be easy, as it seems for him, then you should try acting for youself.

In a way, his charismatic work here feels as much an achievement as Matthew McConaughey’s in „Interstellar“ which is actually not the weirdest association if one was to compare the central themes of the two movies. But if this comparision seems too out-there, there are also parallels with many apocalyptic blockbusters from „Armageddon“ to „The Day After Tomorrow“.

So… I liked it. „Geostorm“ is certainly cheesy, but it does what it does really well.