In the near future, mankind has developed a satellite based system that can neutralise storms before they become a threat to man. But when one of the satellites appears to malfunction, scientist Jake Lawson who created the system is sent up into space to investigate, while on Earth, his estranged brother Max begins to realise that someone is manipulating the system...
Occasionally a film comes along that makes you question your film choices. Not because it is terrible, though that does happen, but more one that makes you question your own intelligence.
Geostorm is such a film.
Beginning with a child's voice-over explaining why the satellite system, known as 'Dutch Boy' (due to the story of the boy who plugged a leaking hole in a wall with his finger. No, seriously!!) came into being, Geostorm takes a potentially interesting idea and then dumbs it down. Then beats it to death with a big stick, before the producers thought, 'screw it, let's out Bay Michael Bay in Armageddon mode. Oh and then turn it all up to eleven!'
Just about every cliche you can throw into a film is in here. We have the estranged brothers, one of whom promises his daughter he will return from space (and we often know how that will end!). The other brother happens to be secretly dating a secret service agent, who also protects the president, which will obviously be important. We have disasters happening all over the world and in space, a mystery as to who is responsible (a mystery that really isn't) last minute save the world moments and it all ends happily ever after with a group hug (of sorts).
Geostorm does not have a single original thought in its head. Now, material like this doesn't always mean you end up with a bad film. Get the tone right, you can make a fun film. You could, again with the right writers, come up with a spoof like Airplane! A director like Roland Emmerich can take material like this and make an entertaining film. Look at White House Down! The director here, Dean Devlin has produced some of Emmerich's films over the years. But here, we see why Devlin is usually the producer and someone else the director. He doesn't have the lightness of touch to make the film work. You need to have your tongue slightly in your cheek with a film like this and Devlin tries to play it too straight. It really needs Roland Emmerich, or (God forbid, Michael Bay himself!).
The film is written by Devlin himself and Paul Guyot and as I said it appears they have thrown everything at the story and hoped it somehow hangs together. It might not, but you can't fault their efforts.
But then you discover that Jerry Bruckheimer was brought onboard along with an uncredited writer (Laeta Kalogridis) and director (Danny Cannon) for some reshooting. Now, I don't know how the film looked before this rehooting or what was added but the finished film is well...ridiculous. It is an utterly dumb film. It is without doubt the silliest film I have seen this year.
And yet...despite of, or perhaps because of, how silly the film is, thanks to the game cast giving it all, you can't help but be swept along for the ride.
Gerard Butler plays Jake and his character and performance is what you expect for a film of this type. You really feel the film missed a trick with him not punching a Geostorm at some point. Jim Sturgess plays his brother Max and certainly out acts Butler but he too relishes the cliches in the film. Abby Cornish gets saddled with the role of Sarah, the secret service agent and yet manages to overcome the cliches to a degree, getting some brief action scenes to flesh out her role. Alexandra Maria Lara plays the commander of the space station and she too manages good work with a badly written role. Andy Garcia plays the President, Ed Harris the Vice President who do their best with appallingly written parts. In fact, the best performance in the film comes from Talitha Bateman as Jake's daughter Hannah. It may be a small role, but she nails the role perfectly. Despite the roles as written, it's the performances keeping you entertained as they keep straight faces delivering some truly awful dialogue.
The same can't really be said for some of the effects in truth. The CGI at times is very disappointing, which is a surprise considering this was released by a major studio. You do expect more these days.
However for all the cliches, for all the poor CGI, for the over the top, throw everything including the kitchen sink into the story, I can't deny I was entertained by Geostorm. I don't think it's a film that falls into the 'so bad it's good' category. I have to say, I never thought it a terrible film at all. Silly? Yes. Dumb? Hell yes. But it's also fun.
In a way it reminded me of Con Air (no really!). Bear with me here. The reason Con Air is so good is that the cast play it dead straight, even when some of the dialogue is funny as hell. Geostorm takes a similar approach. Everyone involved must have known how daft the film was, but with the cast playing it straight, it is entertaining. Don't get me wrong though. Con Air is a work of genius. Geostorm wishes it was close to that level.
It's not, but I can't deny I was entertained by it.
Rating: 3/5
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