“SOMETIMES YOU JUST GOT TO SUCK IT UP. PUSH THROUGH. EVEN WHEN YOU’RE SUPER SCARED.” - JOHN GERRITY (GERARD BUTLER)
Plot Summary
The world is coming to the end….again? What is it this time? An earthquake bigger than all earthquakes ? Nope. A series of massive storms from global warming or controlled by a satellite? Good try but nope. Ok, who started up the zombie apocalypse? Still nope.
The world is in awe as a large cluster of comets (not to be confused with their slower moving counterparts, the asteroid….thank you film writers) make their way to earth from another solar system. Everyone is looking forward to seeing the first few to make a splash into the Atlantic Ocean. John (Gerard Butler; Olympus Has Fallen (2013), Hunter Killer (2018)) and Allison (Morena Baccarin; Deadpool (2016), Gotham (2015-2019)) host a viewing party at their house with their neighbors while, secretly, their marriage has been pretty rocky lately. Turns out the scientists were a bit off in their calculations and the first hit isn’t in the ocean but hits the heart of northern Florida. At the time of panic, John learns that his family has been selected to travel to a survival bunker in a classified location. Perhaps a bunch of comets heading straight to Earth wasn’t going to be as cool as they all thought? John and Allison, with their son Nathan, must make their way to the bunker before the largest comet hits and causes an “Earth-ending-event”. They are faced with difficulty after difficulty trying to make it there while smaller comets are making contact and contributing even more hardships. Will John and his family make it to the bunker in time? Will the bunker even be enough to survive?
One Nerd’s Thoughts
Greenland is a pretty decent end-of-the-world movie, when mainly compared to other alike movies: 2012 (2009), San Andreas (2015), Deep Impact (1998). When you end up watching one of these kinds of movies, you usually end up seeing a lot of the same kind of situations and Greenland looks to pick from a bunch of them; there’s the “lottery” for potentially surviving in a government funded bunker (Deep Impact), the looting of stores (pick your poison there), and driving through a good amount of the country remarkably quick while highways are backed-up during panic (2012).
Where Greenland stands out from the rest is an ability to really pull on the heart-strings with what the main characters go through. You end up seeing quite the range of struggles for the family from trying to be killed for a “lottery” bracelet to even a kidnapping, almost making you question what you would be willing to do to survive. It’s refreshing to see that Greenland hits some of the unavoidable cliché situations from comet movies but still manages to hold the attention of the viewer with some variances and some even some new situations.
ONE NERD’S RATING: 6.5/10
Overall, Greenland can’t quite keep up with lots of other action movies. If you’re in the mood for a comet movie and something new, Greenland is worth a try. Otherwise, you might be better off with something like Armageddon or even London Has Fallen.
