If there was a time that disaster films reigned, it was probably the decade of the 1970's. Just about every year, a disaster film was released. Since then, this genre has resurged at different times, such as "The Day After Tomorrow", "Twister", "San Andreas", "The Impossible" and even "Titanic". If you take all these films and combine them into one film, you will have "Geostorm".
When catastrophic climate change endangers Earth's very survival, world governments unite and create the Dutch Boy Program: a world wide net of satellites, surrounding the planet, that are armed with geoengineering technologies designed to stave off natural disasters. After successfully protecting the planet for three years, something is starting to go wrong. Two estranged brothers, Jake Lawson (Gerard Butler) and Max Lawson (Jim Sturgess) are tasked with solving the program's malfunction before a world wide Geostorm can engulf the planet. Jake actually designed and implemented the satellite system, however his brother, Max was also instrumental in assisting Jake. So with fighting the clock, Jake has a team including Ute Fassbinder (Alexandra Maria Lara), Al Hernandez (Eugenio Derbez), Duncan Taylor (Robert Sheehan) and Ray Dussette (Amr Waked) to help him in solving this potentially cataclysmic situation.
Others to round out the cast are Abbie Cornish as Sarah Wilson, Daniel Wu as Cheng Long, Ed Harris as Leonard Dekkom, Andy Garcia as President Andrew Palma, Adepero Oduye as Eni Adisa, Richard Schiff as Senator Cross, Mare Winningham as Dr. Cassandra Jennings, Zazie Beetz as Dana and Talitha Bateman as Hannah Lawson, Jake's daughter.
This was directed by a seasoned writer who's directorial debut is with this film, Dean Devlin ("Brain Trust" (TV movie) '11) plus TV. Considering this is his first feature film in the director's chair, this was effectively executed. These actors were effective in there respective roles and this is all about the directing. Certainly Devlin has worked with some talented directors since he is a seasoned writer in this genre, so it should not be too surprising that he would be the director he's turned out to be. His next project, "Bad Samaritan" is in post production as we speak. This was predictably written by Devlin ("Universal Soldier" '92, "Stargate" '94, "Independence Day" '96, "Godzilla" '98, "Independence Day--Resurgence" '16) plus others and TV and Paul Guyot (TV). This was adequately written, however it is extremely predictable. With Devlin writing similar screenplays in his other films, predictability reigns king: a brooding lead actor at odds with another, an horrific event that's tied to the lead actor. They try to warn but to no avail, so when the chips are really down, they are wooed in to solve the problem. Sound familiar? To give this film credit, there is an odd political subplot that holds your attention to a degree. So since Devlin has the lion's share of the experience--Guyot has no feature film experience--Devlin has to carry the brunt of the responsibility to produce a decent script. And with this we get a storyline that is so similar as we've seen in other 'disaster' films.
This film wasn't actually made for an incredible script or fine acting as much as it was for the seamless visual effects produced. When one watches a disaster flick, it's all about the excapism factor so one can watch something to take them away from their problems for a couple of hours while munching on their popcorn. And with this being presented in an IMAX format, it makes that escape even more entertaining.
Out of 4 Stars: 2.5 Rated: PG-13 109mins.
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