I absolutely love the disaster movie genre, and I’m a huge fan of Gerard Butler, so when these two get together that can only mean great things, right? Well, that certainly wasn’t the case with 2017’s Geostorm, which was instead an absolute disaster of a movie, so needless to say, I tried to keep my expectations in check when I heard Butler was going up against Mother Nature for round two in the newly released Greenland.
Now, to say that Greenland is better than Geostorm is like saying not stubbing your toe is better than stubbing it, because of course it is, Geostorm is just awful and to hit those levels again so quickly would be an incredibly sad feat for Butler. Where Greenland shines the most is how it’s grounded in reality for the most part, and people tend to react a lot more realistically than they do in some of the bigger blockbuster disaster movies. This may be because the lead characters we follow throughout the film are just ordinary people and not the usual “save the planet” protagonists who we don’t have to see deal with the more heart-wrenching moments of a situation like this, such as leaving your scared and distraught friends and neighbours behind knowing that they’re not going to survive.
The movie begins with John Garrity (Butler) heading home from work to start things over with his estranged wife, Allison (Morena Baccarin) and his son Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd). We’re not sure what happened between them early on, but it’s clear that trust needs to be rebuilt and it’s all done in a nice, subtle way that lets the viewer know what’s happening without just hammering them over the head with needless exposition that actual people wouldn’t say. They know what’s happened between them, they know that this was the day they said that they’d start to try again and that’s all we need to know. It can be annoying when a movie has characters saying things just for the sake of the audience. “I’m glad I’m back home. I’m sorry I abused alcohol and drugs and caused this rift between us.” That’s not what’s happened here, but it’s nice when a movie realizes that we don’t need to be spoon-fed every little detail.
Nathan then informs his dad about “Clarke,” a newly discovered interstellar comet that’s going to be passing by earth’s orbit in the coming days. He explains that comets are a lot more unpredictable than asteroids, and Clarke proves to be just that. The next day, during a BBQ with neighbours that finds everyone excitedly gathered around the television to watch the first fragment of Clarke harmlessly splash down into the ocean, things quickly take a turn when the fragment instead slams into central Florida, completely decimating it in the same way a nuclear bomb would have.
As everyone looks on in complete shock and horror, John’s phone rings and he receives an automated message saying that he’s been pre-selected by the government for emergency sheltering (he’s the lucky structural engineer that came up on their Google search!) Because big brother is everywhere, this message also comes up on his TV screen, alerting his family and neighbours at just how dire this situation has quickly become. They begin to wonder why their phones haven’t gone off, or maybe there are messages back on their TV screens at home. They all leave and the Garrity’s quickly pack up some belongings and head to the designated airport they’ve been told to go in the message. But before they can leave they have to heartbreakingly drive by the same friends they’d just been gathered with. As it turns out that nobody else was selected and as one of them tells John, the higher ups got it all wrong and that many more fragments are headed towards earth with one of them being a planet killer.
From this point on we’re just with the Garrity family and while the scenarios that take place are realistic for the ELE (extinction level event) that’s about to take place, it’s best that you put on your suspension of disbelief cap because things are about to get really crazy. I say this because since the Garrity family are our protagonists, they’re the ones experiencing everything that happens in the movie and in order to make a movie like this entertaining, a lot of things have to happen – all to them, consistently.
Yes, for a family who you’d think we’d deem lucky because they were chosen for emergency shelter, the Garrity’s sure do end up having a rough go at it. After being separated at the airport in a fairly well-handled and logical way, Allison and Nathan decide to head to her father’s house in Kentucky (they’re currently located in Georgia.) They believe that John likely got on one of the plane’s but decide to leave him a note on their car just in case. Lucky they did, as John went searching for them, finds the note and also begins the trek to Kentucky.
This may sound like I’m giving a lot away, but I’m not. This is all fairly early on in the film, and it’s all information given in the trailer. It’s also important information to point out in order to understand why the suspension of disbelief cap is required for a movie that I said feels more grounded in reality than other disaster movies. The reason is that a lot of the scenarios you’d expect to see in a situation like this pretty much all happen to the Garrity family because they’re who they audience is experiencing this with. So while it’d make sense for one of these situations to happen to someone, and another to someone else, and so on and so forth, watching them all happen to these three people may cause some to roll their eyes. So that’s why the cap is required, because if you can get over that part then watching how the Garrity’s and people around them all react as the world is set to end is a really intense roller-coaster ride that never seems to let up.
That’s not to say there aren’t some moments where things do get a little too ridiculous or convenient (the amount of footage the news shows of cities exploding from cinematic angles is pretty silly; plus, why are they still on the air when there’s only 24-hours left until the end of the world? That’s some raise-deserving dedication right there,) but they’re not enough to take away from the positives the movie continuously serves up. It’s always great to escape reality for a little bit, and while a disaster movie may not be what everyone wants to do so with, for those who are fans, Greenland delivers an emotionally driven, action-packed doomsday flick that would’ve been ideal to see in theaters, but still packs an equally entertaining punch from the safety of your own home.
Blu-ray Video and Audio Review:
The film looks quite solid at 1080p, delivering solid visuals that help keep the viewer immersed in the story. There’s not a lot to write home about here on either side of the spectrum, as it delivers what viewers are expecting at this point in the Blu-ray cycle, while also not pushing any visual boundaries. Though delivering what’s expected is a big pro when there aren’t any real negatives to counter.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack is great, really helping to bring the movie to life in earth rumbling fashion. While it’s always great to have nice, clear dialogue and score, with a movie like this you want to know how the destructive impacts really hit, and on that front the audio truly shines. There are some really impressive moments throughout that will impress audio-files out there.
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes – There are a few deleted scenes here, though the one that’ll be of most interest to people is no doubt the original ending for the film. I’ll say that the ending they chose works better, and that this isn’t an alternate ending that drastically changes anything, so it’s worth a quick watch with the director’s introduction and that’s about it.
Director’s Commentary – Director Ric Roman Waugh is joined by Producer Basil Iwanyk, and they don’t shy away from talking about their film coming out during a pandemic, as well as covering all the usual bases that commentary lovers would hope to hear about. Fans of the film will want to give this a go.
Humanity – This is an incredibly short, 80-second look at the film.
Universal Pictures Presents Greenland. Directed by: Ric Roman Waugh. Written by: Chris Sparling. Starring: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, Roger Dale Floyd, Scott Glenn. Running time: 119 Minutes. Rating: 14A. Released on Blu-ray: Feb. 9, 2021.
About Brendan Campbell
