Geostorm

Geostorm is an extraordinarily bad and silly disaster blockbuster in which absolutely nothing works. It lacks Emmerich’s perspective and empathetic work with the characters. The scientific dialogue and the plot in general don’t make even a bit of sense and the political conspiracy plot line is laughable, as are the nonsensical weather elements (a cold wind-driven mega-wave flash freezes people in bathing suits on the beach in tropical Rio? Huh?). It’s been a long time since I’ve had trouble finishing such a well-cast film. (04/17/2021)

Judging by the generic trailers, I didn't expect Geostorm to be decent entertainment after all, and given that it's a debut with I won't skimp the rating. Gerard Butler is great and does a decent job of talking throughout the film. There could have been more destruction but it was very good. Hong Kong was the longest and then a few smaller ones but each time in an interesting location (Moscow, Dubai, Mumbai, Florida). The storyline is different than I expected, so thumbs up for that too. I was not bored for a moment, satisfaction. I liked it more than Into the Storm.75% (11/21/2017)

More Emmerich than Emmerich himself, and just as dumb. No, actually not, this is far dumber. Emmerich takes his fairytales lightly, but this one is taken very seriously. Devlin didn't learn much from his buddy. That it was a fuckton of special effects? They don't impress anybody anymore. CGI effects are a standard today, not the privilege of a good film. Devlin was 20 years behind the times, and this dumbed-down mess deservedly flopped in theaters. (01/29/2018)

I'm giving the film two totally subjective stars because it contained too many of my pet peeves. It was too multicultural, there was too much melodrama, American patriotism, too many moral lessons, and it reminded me too much of Independence Day. Plus, the whole time I felt like I was watching a film that was made in the 90s, only with updated special effects. At least the German woman didn't look like Angela... (03/05/2018)

This film shouldn’t be taken seriously, but rather with a good sense of humor. If you can stick to this condition, you’ll find it entertaining. Dean Devlin, who spent his life learning from one of the best disaster movie directors (at least in terms of effectiveness and visual style), decided to take the reins himself for the first time and, naturally, chose to make a disaster film. To be honest, I expected slightly better effects; they weren’t bad, but at times they looked quite cheap and artificial given the budget. Butler did his part (he didn’t have much chance to show more), tossing out a few lines full of pathos, as did other characters. Overall, the dialogues have a very patriotic feel, sometimes even surpassing Independence Day. As mentioned, the effects were mostly above average, but I would have appreciated more screen time for the weather-related disasters. The presidential subplot also felt pretty worn out. The ending tried to deliver high-energy action full of destruction, and in the end, it didn’t disappoint me. With better effects and improved dialogue, this could have been a blockbuster contender. As it stands, it’s only worth three stars and 64%. (02/22/2018)