As far as apocalyptic disaster movies go, Greenland doesn’t always follow the usual formula. Special effects showing famous landmarks being destroyed are few and far between, replaced by, for the most part, character development.
Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin are the leads here, as John and Allison Garrity, a couple struggling with their marriage. The estranged couple have a diabetic son called Nathan, played by Roger Dale Floyd. We get the feeling early on that this marriage is hanging by a thread. But there is nothing quite like an earth bound, planet killing comet to pull a couple together. As news bulletins flash in the background about the imminent impact of the first comet fragments, Allison should really be thanking herself lucky that John has a golden ticket to safety. Due to his structural engineering background, John has been selected to take his family refuge in a bunker in Greenland. To get there, they must embark upon a road trip to an airfield to catch their flight to safety.
This road trip (it ends up being 2!) essentially makes up the bulk of the movie. I was slightly surprised that this dash along the motorway wasn’t the beginning of a long CGI sequence with our hero saving his family at every turn. Instead, the family are split up and all run into their own personal nightmares. Some of these scenes work pretty well but others had me wishing for more comet fragments.
Worth watching?
By the end of the movie I was only slightly satisfied by the change of direction from the usual popcorn disaster flick. The performances were all fine and it did offer some decent action. But, a part of me wanted to see more cities being blown up or engulfed by gigantic storms. Sure, we have seen that all before, but at the end of the day that’s what I signed up to see.
Runtime: 119 minutes Director: Ric Roman Waugh Starring: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin
Greenland
Summary
Gerard Butler puts up a good fight in what isn’t necessarily your standard CGI fuelled popcorn disaster flick. But at times, I wish it was.
