In a lot of ways, “Geostorm” could be considered perhaps one of the best bad movies of the year. That is not a compliment, by the way.
It’s a disaster movie that is just that. But it also gives us a story that is goofy and implausible.
Gerard Butler stars as Jake Lawson, a satellite designer in charge of creating a satellite known as “Dutch Boy” which is responsible for controlling the climate on Earth from space. After a freak accident endangers a series of astronauts, Lawson is sent up to space to repair and stop any impending natural disasters that might take place.
Jim Sturgess costars as his younger brother who is also working for the secretary of state and making sure that Jake does his job. Jake also leaves behind his precocious daughter (Talitha Bateman) and this dynamic just sparks one of the many, many cliches this movie has at its disposal.
It isn’t long before the mission goes haywire and virtually every disaster known to man is unleashed. We get tidal waves crossed with tornadoes and firestorms mixed in with a new Ice Age. I think somewhere Michael Bay is kicking himself for not thinking of this himself.
We also get some supporting work from Ed Harris and Andy Garcia as the president, but both of their roles are so badly underwritten and clunky that it’s barely worth mentioning that they’re in the movie.
Butler seems to phoning in his performance throughout and the other actors don’t really amount to more than just cardboard cutouts, who are involved in ridiculous plot threads and exchange idiotic dialogue.
The only thing the movie has going for it are the special effects, which are sparse until the climax. Even then, they’re mostly unimpressive and unexciting.
Director Dean Devlin, who was a producer on “Stargate” and “Independence Day,” makes his directorial debut and you can see where he borrows a lot of inspiration from his counterpart Roland Emmerich, but not to much effect.
It can be considered entertainingly bad, but I can’t recommend it for that either.
Grade: C-
Rated PG-13 for destruction, action, and violence.
Hall is a syndicated columnist in South Georgia.