Disaster films have one specific goal to accomplish and that’s to just be a lot of fun and deliver on thrills and just complete destruction. The reason why these movies are so popular, or at least why there was a phase of Hollywood Studios pumping out so many disaster movies is partially because these are the types of movies that allow people to process real traumatic events. Disaster flicks are popular because it lets audiences gaze at tragic events from a distance that still manages to keep them just out of the realm of realism. They also act as subgenre for action movies, and they literally can be about any natural disaster, whether it’s floods, earthquakes, tsunamis or asteroid collisions. However, disaster flicks can either go another route and showcase shipwrecks, airplane crashes, or calamities like worldwide disease pandemics. Maybe the best disaster movie is James Cameron’s Titanic, which is interesting because it’s more than just a disaster film. Titanic is a tragic love story centered around a catastrophic event that happened in history. This is a story about two young people who find each other, fall madly in love, and are then torn apart by unimaginable disaster — one rendered by the obsessive director in minute, breathless, excruciating detail. Anyways, we’re getting off topic. Disaster movies can really be something special if done right. San Andreas, 2012, The Towering Inferno and even The Day After Tomorrow are examples of solid disaster flicks. Greenland is for sure joining that list. Greenland is a lot better than it had any business being. There’s a lot of entertainment to be had in this movie and delivers on what a disaster movie is supposed to have, but it also adds a strong layer of emotion and a great sense of investment with Gerard Butler and his family.
Like a lot of other disaster flicks, Greenland is centered around an average family who endeavor for the fight survival in the wake of a cataclysmic natural disaster that threatens the life of every living soul on planet Earth.
Every disaster movie is tailor made for the theatrical experience, as every movie should be. It’s one thing to watch it in your living room or the comfort of your own bed, but a movie like Greenland was made to be seen on the big screen. The impact of the explosions, the sense of adrenaline and the thrills are made for the theater and having that experience at home isn’t just the same. Greenland is full of moments like that and that’s nature of what one can expect from a disaster movie. You want to complete destruction and absolute chaos and Greenland delivers on that very well and considering the budget for this movie was just under $40 million, it proves that you don’t need $200 million for your movie to display a grand spectacle in a disaster movie. Greenland was visceral, exciting and it’s level of spectacle was very pleasing.
Gerard Butler is a great and respectable talent in Hollywood but he’s also proven to be a solid action lead in the action movies he’s been in for the last number of years. 300, Olympus Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen are the perfect movies for him to embark and while these types of movies aren’t taking home any awards, Gerard Butler is well suited in these roles and Greenland is yet another solid entry for his career. But the most surprising about Greenland is, amidst all the destruction and havoc happening, the amount of heart and emotion that it has going for it. Let’s face it, we don’t expect disaster movies to have this aspect or at least this well presented in the final product. The layer of sentiment that this movie offers makes the events and tribulations worth more the investment because the movie does an honorable job of making us care about these characters, which then make us care more about what’s at stake. It was surprisingly effective in this movie because it’s handled a lot better than one might actually anticipate. Rather than focusing on the special effects, Greenland focuses on the powerful themes of family and how much family means to you when your life and others are in a great state of peril.
It’s a shame that Greenland never got the proper treatment that it truly deserved from the beginning. This was a movie that was meant to be experienced on the big screen with a room full of other people. Greenland is full of exhilaration, intensity, great character moments and a legit aspect of heart and emotion, that sometimes a movie like this would tend to overlook or forget.
My grade for Greenland: B+
Zane's take at the Cinema's 