GREENLAND | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Ric Roman Waugh (15, 119 mins)
There have been comet movies before: objects hurtling themselves at Earth to be diverted/destroyed by humanity, the likes of disaster flicks Meteor and the double asteroid whammy of Deep Impact and Armageddon 20-odd years ago. Greenland sees cataclysmic, end-of-days events from the perspective of one family, rather like Spielberg’s take on War Of The Worlds, as strained couple Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin attempt to save themselves and their diabetic son Roger Dale Floyd from an extinction level event.
Butler is a structural engineer going home to a spikey Baccarin to watch the passing of a comet close to earth. Only trouble is, this comet is changing and carrying in its wake a huge amount of debris, which inevitably starts hitting the Earth. This is done with relative VFX restraint, mostly seen through news footage, the reality of the situation hitting home harder than in a normal popcorn movie. Admittedly, there are moments of cheese and dodgy dialogue, but a grittiness mostly prevails.
Butler’s engineering skills mean he and his family have been chosen, via text and TV announcements, to go on special transport to underground shelters – which, it transpires, are in Greenland. The family get separated in some wrenching scenes but, somewhat ludicrously, manage to find each other and regroup at Baccarin’s father’s house, Scott Glenn looking very grizzled as the dad. Having missed their plane, they decide to head for Greenland themselves in the hope of finding the shelters as the clock ticks down to impact.
Much better than expected, Greenland has a winning reality to its scenes of parental distress and desperation, Baccarin in particular conveying the panic and heartache of events. Society breaks down but there are moments of kindness, along with the heartless self-interest of a species facing extinction. It’s actually a very watchable Gerard Butler movie.
Out now on Amazon Prime. Info: here
words KEIRON SELF