Greenland

After a long time, a more expensive and bigger film, which is a pleasure in the current crisis, and also the fact that disaster films are like saffron. Greenland has solid visuals, decent pacing, Gerard Butler performing to his standard, and there’s plenty of suspense. The film is mainly a road movie about saving a family, the actual VFX attractions are a bit less, but when it comes to them, it's definitely worth it. Story***, Action****, Humor**, Violence**, Entertainment****, Music****, Visuals****, Atmosphere****, Suspense****. 7/10. (11/14/2020)

You shouldn’t be expecting a shallow action movie, Ric Roman Waugh shows us carefully measured scenes of devastation, often indirectly and with very realistic CGI, thanks to which this movie looks like a movie and not chaotic computer animation. The story focuses on a group of people just trying to survive the impact of a destructive comet, and you will them on to succeed. This is slightly damaged by some typical, predictable tropes - for example, you learn one of the characters suffers from diabetes at the beginning, so it is  immediately clear this is the device that later significantly spices up the story. In other respects, however, I was very satisfied and within a specific subgenre, Greenland is a decent movie that definitely deserves attention. (12/30/2020)

A comet is heading for Earth and Gerard Butler must save his family. Not the world or civilization, just his family. On the surface, Greenland is a very ordinary disaster movie, but what makes it different from the others is that it revolves around ordinary people trying to survive. Nothing more. Solid actors, very brisk pace and well built tension. Nothing too new, but above average entertainment. (11/24/2020)

It has its weaker moments (the entire final half-hour is such a clichéd Hollywood construct, completely different in mood from the previous realistic action), but otherwise it's far from Geostorm and similar recent bullshit. It's a believable look at human behaviour in extreme situations, when a planetary catastrophe brings to the surface their egotism and low instincts. The special effects are sparse, but the ominous sights of the changing sky has an unsettling charm and visually it really looks good and believable. But I expected it, Ric Roman Waugh is a smart guy, he's done it a few times already, and his latest film so far certainly doesn't deserve to be in the blue. (11/15/2020)

Ric Roman Waugh, after successful dramas set in the prison environment, tackled a disaster film. One might think such a shift wouldn’t result in anything good, but the opposite is true. The first half of the film innovates the genre in many ways, showcasing the dark side of people that would emerge in these apocalyptic scenarios. These intimate moments are actually among the most successful aspects of the film. The tension is built meticulously, and the airport scene is top-notch. The film has an immensely pessimistic tone, and its civil approach, which doesn’t rely heavily on exaggerated computer-generated effects, drew me in remarkably. However, the second half shifted to an American style where the main characters face no real consequences. This slightly tarnished the positive experience from the first hour. Nonetheless, the acting is solid; Gerard Butler has found his niche in these family-oriented roles in recent years, and he’s always a good choice for the lead. The rest of the cast performs well too. The ending was surprising. The first half deserves 8/10, the second half 6/10... Still a decent, above-average film within the genre. For me, it’s 7/10. (11/25/2020)