Stars Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Alexandra Maria Lara, Robert Sheehan, Daniel Wu, with Ed Harris and Andy Garcia Directed by Dean Devlin While Roland Emmerich managed to make weather go crazy to the extremes in 2012, his one-time producing partner Dean Devlin decides to chip in on the disaster genre with Geostorm where the crazy weather caused by global warming has been brought under control by a network of satellites. That is, until someone starts a calculated sabotage scheme designed to create the titular global disaster. The production itself may have been a disaster or epic proportions with (unconfirmed, or at least I couldn’t really verify it) reports of production delays and last minute replacements suggesting mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer taking over and bringing in Danny Cannon to direct. (not that I’d rely heavily on Wikipedia.) Neither name really appearing in any of the credits. So, who’s responsible for what is difficult to determine in what would have been Devlin’s directorial debut for the big screen. Devlin has had major success on TV with series such as The Librarians and Leverage (having directed several episodes in both series), as well as being Emmerich’s producing partner for over a decade (meeting on Moon 44 (1990) then collaborating on the likes of Universal Soldier, Stargate, Independence Day and others). Perhaps it was timing or budget (originally a reported 81 million budget), but the 2014 production with a 2016 release got… well, see reports following the above links. Plot-wise, Gerard Butler is Jake Lawson, the guy who led the project that created the satellites that hold the catastrophic weather at bay. Despite being an international effort, the US still wants to exert its might to control the system for an additional 3 years before it’s supposed to be handed over to the UN (or something) and Jake is dismissed from the project. Just as the 3 years is coming to an end, things start to go wrong and Jake is called back in to fix things. And things don’t quite go as plan. This is the kind of plot and story you might find on some SyFy or even Netflix movie of the week albeit with major stars and way better special effects than you’d get on a TV movie (Shaknado 5: Global Swarming, anyone?). While the space scenes, or on the main space station with Jake, are fine, more of the familiar action beats are on the ground with Jake’s brother, Max (Jim Sturgess), particular a standout car chase scene with Max’s girlfriend, secret service agent Sarah Wilson (Abbie Cornish). Despite being a producer on the movie, Butler seems to be phoning it in where his performance is concerned, coming alive more towards the end of the film. The rest of the cast is fine although there’s also a sense some can’t believe what exactly they’re doing in a movie like this. Not that the movie is bad, more like some of the cast are either typecast or trying to stretch their acting muscles by plying something out of their typical character base. Even Daniel Wu is playing a nerdy programmer. Only Ed Harris seems to know exactly what he’s doing here. Like those movies on cable or online streaming, this one has its entertainment value, and given its pedigree, you really do know what to expect. Kinda like fast food; you don’t mind it, you may even enjoy it when the mood is right, but it’s not some 5-star meal at a fancy restaurant. And that’s okay. It’s quite likely some of the effects sequences may permeate the web the way the storm sequences from Into The Storm (2014) has done. Rating **1/2/5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support.
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