Structural Engineer John Garrity played by Gerard Butler is in the midst of constructing a massive skyscraper when it appears that there is something much more important going on in his life. Which is getting his relationship back with his wife Allison played by Morena Baccarin, and child Nathan played by Roger Floyd. Suddenly a world ending extra terrestrial comet threatens everything he has worked so hard to earn, as well as the rest of human kind and life on Earth as they know it. Writer Chris Sparling and Director Ric Roman Waugh bring a refreshing realistic approach to a genre well saturated with films that have missed the mark.
Dislaimer: This video was given to us on a free digital copy via itunes, our opinions are our own.
News stations around the United States and the rest of the globe are predicting that a Comet named “Clarke” coming from an entirely different solar system, is carrying a vast array of debris and meteorites that would thankfully miss the Earth. Well they predicted wrong, so wrong in fact that while the first piece was supposed to miss the Earth and crumble in the atmosphere, instead it directly impacts Tampa Bay, Florida. Although this ends up being the first of many to hit, and the beginning of the Garrity’s family struggles. Before the impact occurs John receives a presidential message telling him that he has been selected due to his skillset to be relocated and put on a plane with his family. This starts the tumultuous journey traveling from Atlanta Georgia, to Kentucky to anywhere north that can reside a shelter or has a working airport. All the while on this trip Nathan Garrity the young boy is a type one diabetic, and the struggle to find and maintain the proper medication he needs on the journey almost ends their lives entirely multiple times. Although medical problems aren’t the only problems they encounter, as you see what happens to societies morality and sense of decency as they as pressured and backed into the fate of potentially dying. While the family continues struggling and traveling to safety they realize that almost nowhere will be safe as NASA confirms there is another comet coming. This one is different from Clarke, but will impact Earth and wipe out potentially all existing life as we know it, though throughout all this dread the family learn about one beacon of hope, Greenland.
Overall I actually enjoyed this movie quite a bit even though as previously mentioned this is a super saturated genre where unexpected natural events threaten humanity as we know it. My usual problem with these kind of movies is that they don’t exactly portray peoples behaviors in stressful situations like these very correctly, and I believe this movie did it well. The acting was very consistent from the start and quite good overall, as the son Nathan played by Roger Floyd does a great job in multiple situations that require him to act out of character. And of course Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin live up to their reputations and deliver a really strong heartfelt performance that was not deprived of true emotions. The actual film quality and pacing of the movie was done very well also, the scene transitions and action tracking filming for fast moving scenes was also done extraordinarily well. Again I mostly enjoyed how it showed realistic dialogue and actions out of people where it seemed appropriate for them to either lose their humanity and decency, or actually choose to unconditionally help others out in a time of need. It showed a lot of consistency in where acting quality was always upheld and the story never really lost its focus or vibe it was trying to put off.
Chris Sparling and Ric Roman Waugh, do a great job showing how much these three characters are actually able to grow and mature in such a short amount of time. You see the child Nathan mature throughout the ridiculous and intense situations he is put in, and having to face his medical problem head on the whole time. As for Ali she is able to rekindle her love for John as she sees how mature and reliable he really is, and genuinely committed to helping her and their child live a good safe life. Before all of this madness John apparently slept with another woman while their relationship was already rough, but now he is able to redeem himself.
We see how John is now driven to provide for his family, to get his relationship back with his son, and earn trust and love back from Allison. This epic natural disaster in a way spurs him to be an even better father and husband than he already was going to be, brining out the families raw emotions, anxieties and feelings all on the table.
As for the sound quality of the movie it was great and there were nearly no problems, the music and sound effects definitely enhanced the tension within scenes and propelled the movie going forward, while never taking you out of what was happening on screen. Again the camera quality was great and any scenes that required rumble or massive camera shaking was done with high quality.
Greenland is an exciting action drama that blends together quality acting and a strong plot in a not so strong genre. For anyone looking for an intense but heartwarming thriller, Greenland is a great watch.
