Between the first and second UK lockdown in 2020 I managed to go to the cinema a couple of times, and I saw the trailer for Greenland. I was excited to say the least, I mean it was only a disaster film, but it looked very thrilling. When the second lockdown started, and then subsequently London was placed under high tiered restrictions meant I couldn’t go to the cinema for when it was set to release late last year. I had almost completely forgotten about it until a trailer on Prime Video alerted me to the fact that Amazon bought the distribution rights for the UK and it was being broadcast as an Amazon Original. Fantastic! So, what did I think?
John Garrity (Gerrard Butler) is a structural engineer and currently trying to repair his broken marriage with his wife Alison (Morena Baccarin). Together they have a seven-year-old son, Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd), and they will be spending the weekend together to throw a party for the passing of a comet, Clarke.
When John receives a call from the United States Government stating that his family has been selected for emergency sheltering red flags begin to go up about the safety of the comet. Shortly thereafter Florida is struck by a small chunk that destroys hundreds of miles of land.
John follows the instructions sent by the government to safely evacuate his family to an undisclosed location, however when his son is turned away because he suffers from diabetes, and the family becomes separated, it becomes a race against time for John to reunite with his family and find a way to get them to safety before the main portion of Clarke collides with Earth and causes an extinction level event.
John Garrity (Gerrard Butler) is a structural engineer and currently trying to repair his broken marriage with his wife Alison (Morena Baccarin). Together they have a seven-year-old son, Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd), and they will be spending the weekend together to throw a party for the passing of a comet, Clarke.
When John receives a call from the United States Government stating that his family has been selected for emergency sheltering red flags begin to go up about the safety of the comet. Shortly thereafter Florida is struck by a small chunk that destroys hundreds of miles of land.
John follows the instructions sent by the government to safely evacuate his family to an undisclosed location, however when his son is turned away because he suffers from diabetes, and the family becomes separated, it becomes a race against time for John to reunite with his family and find a way to get them to safety before the main portion of Clarke collides with Earth and causes an extinction level event.
Greenland is good old-fashioned switch your brain off entertainment, but that doesn’t mean it’s lacking in quality. In fact, Greenland is a whole lot better than I expected it to be but is absolutely not for the easily anxious or agitated.
The opening to the film takes a little longer than I expected, from the opening scene to when the first impact strikes the film is slowly ratcheting up the tension. Almost constant news broadcasts about the upcoming comet’s passing put you on edge from the word go, but once that first impact happens, you’re on a real rollercoaster of adrenaline for almost all of the remaining runtime.
It’s the first half of the film that’ll really stick with you though, that’s where my heart was regularly pumping through my chest. You get to see the immediate distress of the neighbours, the realisation that the Garrity’s are going to be safe, then the sudden attitude shift from panic to hostility as the neighbours vie to be taken with them or badger them for information they don’t have.
Shortly thereafter you witness the chaos of military intervention and the violent resistance from civilians who were not chosen to be evacuated. This is followed by scenes of looting, rioting in the streets, various acts of violence, and sheer social panic as news breaks that the worst is yet to come and experts predict extinction on the same scale as the dinosaurs.
Once this first half is over things certainly don’t calm down, but it becomes less about surviving against humans and more about navigating a world that is being engulfed in flames and falling molten debris. For much of the film the sky is literally on fire and it’s extremely distressing. There are very few moments of levity in the film, and you really do appreciate them when they come because of just how well the film communicates this sense of panic.
I think it hits harder after the kind of year that 2020 was, it started with the Australian bush fires, which the second half of the film definitely echoes in its aesthetic. We then faced the COVID-19 pandemic, and this more closely echoes the opening half of the film which showcases the social panic. Seeing that kind of spontaneous panic and violence in real life will likely change the way I view films like Greenland forever, and Greenland does it in a way that feels utterly convincing.
The opening to the film takes a little longer than I expected, from the opening scene to when the first impact strikes the film is slowly ratcheting up the tension. Almost constant news broadcasts about the upcoming comet’s passing put you on edge from the word go, but once that first impact happens, you’re on a real rollercoaster of adrenaline for almost all of the remaining runtime.
It’s the first half of the film that’ll really stick with you though, that’s where my heart was regularly pumping through my chest. You get to see the immediate distress of the neighbours, the realisation that the Garrity’s are going to be safe, then the sudden attitude shift from panic to hostility as the neighbours vie to be taken with them or badger them for information they don’t have.
Shortly thereafter you witness the chaos of military intervention and the violent resistance from civilians who were not chosen to be evacuated. This is followed by scenes of looting, rioting in the streets, various acts of violence, and sheer social panic as news breaks that the worst is yet to come and experts predict extinction on the same scale as the dinosaurs.
Once this first half is over things certainly don’t calm down, but it becomes less about surviving against humans and more about navigating a world that is being engulfed in flames and falling molten debris. For much of the film the sky is literally on fire and it’s extremely distressing. There are very few moments of levity in the film, and you really do appreciate them when they come because of just how well the film communicates this sense of panic.
I think it hits harder after the kind of year that 2020 was, it started with the Australian bush fires, which the second half of the film definitely echoes in its aesthetic. We then faced the COVID-19 pandemic, and this more closely echoes the opening half of the film which showcases the social panic. Seeing that kind of spontaneous panic and violence in real life will likely change the way I view films like Greenland forever, and Greenland does it in a way that feels utterly convincing.
What don’t I like? The CGI is pretty rubbish for the most part. There are a few moments where it relies on it a bit too heavily and it’s extremely clear that these probably weren’t quite up to the standard the filmmakers had hoped because of the effects of the pandemic. It’s also a relatively low budget film so I expect the effects wouldn’t have been dazzling anyway, but luckily it doesn’t lean on them often enough for it to drag the whole experience down. The finale is perhaps the most CG heavy, and it does look very cheap which weakens its impact.
On top of this the film feels a little too long. Looking back at it I can’t necessarily think of anything I’d outright scrap, but perhaps tighten up some of the scenes where the camera lingers slightly too long or there’s dialogue that doesn’t really go anywhere. I’m sure it would only shave a few minutes off, but at two hours long the film does marginally overstay its welcome considering the premise.
The performances are all perfectly fine. Baccarin is the best of show, and Roger Dale Floyd does a great job. I’ve not seen him in anything before and considering just how much screen time he has; he has a very promising future ahead. In fact, Butler arguably has the weakest performance in the whole film. He’s fine, like there’s nothing wrong with his performance, but the father and husband saving his family routine has been done to death so many times that you really have to do something special to stand out from the crowd in that kind of role.
I had a fantastic time with Greenland, and it’s the kind of film where you can just kick back with some snacks and enjoy it for what it is. There’re no frills, no deeper meaning to analyse, it’s just a disaster film. But it’s a really good one. It doesn’t lean too heavily on the spectacle of devastation, but instead chooses to root itself much more in the human struggle of surviving the end of the world. If you’ve got Prime Video and enjoy disaster films, or just Gerard Butler, you can’t really go wrong with Greenland.
On top of this the film feels a little too long. Looking back at it I can’t necessarily think of anything I’d outright scrap, but perhaps tighten up some of the scenes where the camera lingers slightly too long or there’s dialogue that doesn’t really go anywhere. I’m sure it would only shave a few minutes off, but at two hours long the film does marginally overstay its welcome considering the premise.
The performances are all perfectly fine. Baccarin is the best of show, and Roger Dale Floyd does a great job. I’ve not seen him in anything before and considering just how much screen time he has; he has a very promising future ahead. In fact, Butler arguably has the weakest performance in the whole film. He’s fine, like there’s nothing wrong with his performance, but the father and husband saving his family routine has been done to death so many times that you really have to do something special to stand out from the crowd in that kind of role.
I had a fantastic time with Greenland, and it’s the kind of film where you can just kick back with some snacks and enjoy it for what it is. There’re no frills, no deeper meaning to analyse, it’s just a disaster film. But it’s a really good one. It doesn’t lean too heavily on the spectacle of devastation, but instead chooses to root itself much more in the human struggle of surviving the end of the world. If you’ve got Prime Video and enjoy disaster films, or just Gerard Butler, you can’t really go wrong with Greenland.