By Omair Alavi Hollywood has mastered the art of disaster flicks, but to come up with a movie where there is a bigger disaster at hand than the natural one, can only be Dean Devlin’s doing. The writer behind super successful flicks Universal Soldier, Stargate, Independence Day and Godzilla turns film director with Geostorm where…
SAMAA | Omair Alavi – Posted: Oct 30, 2017 | Last Updated: 4 years ago
By Omair Alavi
Hollywood has mastered the art of disaster flicks, but to come up with a movie where there is a bigger disaster at hand than the natural one, can only be Dean Devlin’s doing. The writer behind super successful flicks Universal Soldier, Stargate, Independence Day and Godzilla turns film director with Geostorm where from natural calamity to sabotage, family issues to office politics, deception to assassination all is part of the story making it lovely, lively and deathly at the same time. It might not be as big as Armageddon but it does give the same feel with more emphasis on the lead actor than his team, but all hell-bent on saving the planet.
The Plot
A series of natural disasters enabled the leading nations of the world to join hands and come up with a solution – Dutch Boy satellite – to monitor and then normalize the weather around the globe. When the satellite ‘malfunctions’, its original engineer is asked for help by his brother who had replaced him in the program. Jake (Gerard Butler) agrees to go back into space one more time and, after a few accidents, finds out that there is a traitor amongst them at the Space Station. With the help of his brother on Earth and friends above, he tries to save the world before the satellite malfunctions for good.
The Good
A disaster flick, an ensemble cast, and emotions all around is what makes Geostorm a good watch; yes, it might not be the best disaster flick in recent years but it is a complete one where the fate of the world lies in the hands of one person. Gerard Butler and Jim Sturgess play the brothers who get to save the world – one from the satellite above and one from the space station below. Add a saboteur, a ‘suspected’ President who could be rooting for the other side and an ambitious politician and you get a perfect action-thriller that takes you back into the days of Universal Soldier and Godzilla. Dean Devlin excels in his Hollywood debut as a director 25 years after scripting his first movie. Every character in the film has a job to do be it the one that sabotages the Satellite or those who feel that playing God is the answer to all our problems. In addition, when you have Andy Garcia playing the US President and Ed Harris as the Secretary of State, nothing can go wrong even if it wanted to.
The Bad
The problem with Hollywood is that they only conduct research in English speaking areas since they are easy to look into; when it comes to this part of the world, they believe that anything will pass as believable which is not the case. Registan may seem relevant to the English-speaking public but that’s what we call a Desert in Urdu; if Registan Desert is the best, they can come up with then Hollywood needs to learn a lot. There are similar inconsistencies throughout the film but hey, when you have the weight of saving the world on your shoulders, such things happen.
Verdict – 3/5
Geostorm is not your usual disaster flick like Only the Brave but it is the perfect example of how to make a disaster flick enjoyable. We have seen people falling prey to disasters in Hollywood films but never before has it crossed the mind that the most powerful man in the world would be the target of one such act. The brothers’ chemistry plays an important role in the story since they become close after being estranged and save the world by putting their differences aside. Overall, a watchable disaster movie considering weather wreaks havoc in 3D here!
