When the network of satellites designed to control the global climate starts to attack Earth, it’s a race against the clock for its creator to uncover the real threat before a worldwide Geostorm wipes out everything and everyone.
Genre : SF/Action
Country : USA
Cast :
Gerard Butler : Jake Lawson
Jim Sturgess : Max Lawson
Ed Harris : Leonard Dekkom
Director :
Dean Devlin
My opinion on “Geostorm”
“Look, I know you’re not gonna like it but as I see it, there’s only one person to go after for this.
Your brother, Jake.”
“Geostorm” adresses an issue which is highly topical currently. The influence we have as human beings on the climate. And the consequences this has on our environment. Is it really true we’ll be bathing in the shadow of the Cologne Cathedral in the future ? And will polar bears slowly exchange their winter fur for a thinner version, in such a way that after a few decades they look like oversized hairless Sphynxes ? Or will we be continually plagued by natural disasters that’ll cause a multitude of victims among the population? The same problems are presented in “Geostorm“. Fortunately, they had more visionary spirits and they joined forces worldwide. An immense network of satellites spans the earth and scientists can always intervene in a focused and coordinated way (from the ISS), in case of out-of-control weather conditions. Until some things start to go wrong.
A disaster movie. Please no talking. Show some disasters.
“Geostorm” is a typical disaster film. There are some advantages while viewing this type of film. You can leave your brains at home because they aren’t really necessary. If you have to pee urgently during the film, you don’t need to watch the rest of the film with squeezed buttocks. It’s like a daily soap on television. If you miss something, you can still follow afterwards. But be honest. When you’re going to watch a movie like “The day after tomorrow“, “Twister” or this one, you don’t expect deep and ingenious written dialogues. You want to see impressive images with masterly designed digital effects on the screen. Not? The more dramatic and devastating the disasters are, the more successful the film. The footage of disasters on our planet aren’t always impressive and baffling in “Geostorm“. But the images from space, look incredibly realistic and enormously intense. You thought the images from the ISS space station being pulverized in millions of pieces in “Gravity” were impressive? Well there are some sequences in “Geostorm” that look even better.
A bunch of well-known actors … who cares … bring on the disasters !
The summoned actors aren’t the least either. Gerard Butler is not the best choice to play the part of the highly intellectual scientist Jake Lawson. I don’t think people see Butler as a person with an extraordinary I.Q. (although I’m not saying he’s as dumb as an ox). Physical efforts and situations where muscles are needed, fits better with him. And there’s plenty of that in this film. Jim Sturgess plays his brother Max. You can’t say their relationship is really friendly. But as expected, this improves as we approach the end of the film. If you want to see Sturgess shine as an actor, you better try “Upside down“. Abbie Cornish looked familiar to me and that was because I saw her shine next to Woody Harrelson in “Three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” a week ago. Finally there’s also Andy Garcia as the president of the USA. And Ed Harris as the secretary of state. Not that it really matters how legendary some actors are, because the overall story told here really is a disaster.
A movie like a Belgian summer … not an everlasting impression
“Geostorm” isn’t a brilliant film. Sure, the movie isn’t completely boring. But there will be a few things that’ll annoy you. If it’s not the cliché content or the lousy, uninspiring dialogues, then surely the used special effects will cause annoyment. Because they are sometimes aweful and outdated. Like for instance the scene where an area was flooded by water and all of a sudden the water retreats. It felt as if it was filmed in a bathtub and suddenly the stopper was removed. And the U.S. behaving as if it’s the big savior of the world again, was enormously irritating. Especially when you realize they are currently the biggest deniers when it comes to global warming and certain agreements and guidelines are simply boycotted (every proposed measure gets opposition from the American Petrol Industry). You can’t say it’s all politically correct. But you shouldn’t expect something like that either when watching a simplistic spectacle film which was made solely for entertainment.
Ever since Lionsgate greenlit this series in early 2017, fans of the franchise have been eagerly anticipating to see how the John Wick universe expands. 4 movies in, the John Wick franchise is widely known as one of the greatest action movie franchises of all time with our titular character (a.k.a Baba Yaga) becoming one of the most iconic and bad-ass figures ever in Hollywood. The Continental: From The World of John Wick is a prequel series that tells the story of Winston Scott and how he became the manager of New York’s The Continental branch.
The miniseries was developed by Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward and Shawn Simmons. It is executive produced by Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, Derek Kolstad, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, the director of all four John Wick movies. It is structured as a 3-night event told through three 90-minute episodes. The series was originally supposed to air on Starz, but the network sold it to Peacock in 2022. After 6 years in development, it finally aired on Peacock this September.
A lot has been made of the subtitle of the project ever since it was announced. The fact that the makers needed to include it says a lot about the show. It almost felt like the prime marketing asset for it many times as the other promotional material didn’t necessarily create a lot of hype for the show. Albert Hughes directed the first and third episodes, while Charlotte Branstrom directed the second, and disappointingly both directors do not bring the same novelty or creative prowess that Chad Stahelski managed to bring in the John Wick movies.
The Continental [credit: Peacock]
The show also surprisingly lacks any real star power. This franchise is one of Lionsgate’s most prized assets, so you would imagine that they would make sure to get a big cast and crew for this prequel miniseries, but they didn’t. Colin Woodell as Winston Scott is the clear standout among the cast despite delivering only a decent performance, which says a lot about the acting standards in this 3-episode miniseries. Many have criticized the casting of Mel Gibson in the series, but I personally had no issue with his performance and he’s also the most recognizable member of the cast despite having no real audience pull anymore.
The writing doesn’t offer too much to ponder upon or any seriously shocking turns in the story as most of the focus is on making the product as epic, badass and action-packed as possible. Some of the characters had some interesting layers to them, especially Charon (Ayomide Adegun) and Lou (Jessica Allain). Lemmy (Adam Shapiro) provides some much-needed comic relief with his witty dialogues. The structuring of the story works really well as a 3-night event which sets the high stakes and sets a standard of intensity for the narrative.
The Continental [credit: Peacock]
But the thing that people were most looking forward to, was the action and how it fared against John Wick. Unfortunately, that department was inconsistent as well. Ben Robson’s fight sequence in the early part of the first episode was great and it makes you optimistic that the action would get better from here on, but it never does. Most of the action blocks here involve explosions and guns rather than the hand-to-hand combat John Wick franchise is known for. Some of the action was awesome and some of it sadly wasn’t.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick brings a lot of glamour as it tries to expand its world but fails to engage with its paper-thin plot. The characters are mostly dull with a formulaic villain and misses the presence of a magnetic protagonist like Wick. A prequel about Wick’s backstory would’ve been much more interesting than this inconsistent prequel event saved by its style and some great action. It has almost enough to be its own thing but doesn’t quite have enough to match its parent movies.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick premieres on Peacock in the US and Prime Video in the UK and Australia on 22 September, with new episodes weekly.