Geostorm Blu-ray Review
Dean Devlin worked on several films with Roland Emmerich like the “Independence Day” films, “Godzilla” and “Stargate”. So he should know his way around blowing stuff up and showing extreme havoc on the screen. GEOSTORM is Devlin’s first attempt at directing a feature film. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Guyot and was one of the producers. His hands are all over this production. He should have known what would work in a disaster movie. But clearly he did not learn much from his previous endeavors. GEOSTORM is a listless film that is extremely silly and stupid and even the special effects don’t move the needle at all.
The international committee had come together to combat climate change. The year is 2019. They built a satellite system that controls the weather. They called it Dutch Boy. Jake Lawson (Gerard Butler) is the chief architect of the system. After he goes rogue in trying to save an area from a typhoon, he goes before a Senate committee to explain his actions. This does not go well and he is fired by his brother Max (Jim Sturgess). Max takes over overseeing the project.
Three years pass and a town in Afghanistan is iced over. One of the satellites looks to be the culprit in this occurrence. Someone needs to go up to the International Climate Space Station (ICSS) to see what is going on with the system. And who better to do that than Jake. Jake is perfectly content with his nomadic life in Florida. He still harbors resentment toward Max and his actions. But Jake is drawn back to the space station where he spent many months. It is almost a duty to him to find out what is wrong.
Another weather disaster happens in Hong Kong. One of Max’s colleagues named Cheng (Daniel Wu) is working there and he figures out something is amiss. The action switches back and forth between the space station and to what is transpiring with Max and his investigation. Someone is behind this treachery. There are plenty of candidates to pick from, but we really don’t delve into these characters too much. Max has help from his girlfriend Sarah (Abbie Cornish) who happens to be a Secret Service agent. This of course comes in handy when you want to get access to high level stuff.
There is more weather mayhem to display. There are multiple tornados. We have cold weather and hot weather. We have big waves. All of these events show people running, watching in horror or driving to get away from it. Moviegoers have seen this time and time again in the last 20 years. It’s boring. It’s been done to death. Poor saps get swept away by a fireball or wave, while the heroes miraculously show superhuman driving skills or adept running ability. There is nothing new here. The title of the film relates to several big storms that come together as one to wipe away much of the planet.
I know we are supposed to care about the brother relationship or the relationship between Jake and his daughter. We also have the forbidden romance between Max and Sarah. Sadly I did not care about any of these. The movie just kept getting more and more ridiculous. You basically throw up your hands in the end and want to be done with this trite exercise.
GEOSTORM is not a fun popcorn movie to get behind. It is a lazy exercise in ridiculousness and underwhelming special effects.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: The video doesn’t blow you away like it should. The various locations never quite jump off screen like they should.
Audio: For such a loud movie, I did have some difficulty with the dialog.
Wreaking Havoc (6:30): The filmmakers discuss the sets, special effects and the various weather disasters in the film.
The Search for Answers (4:13): The development of the story is gone over.
An International Event (5:40): This is where the casting is talked about. Devlin made it a point to have a diverse cast with different backgrounds.
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