Skip to main content

Geostorm Review

-submitted by Mrs. Winston

What I liked: Massive destruction. There's no logical reason you'd have to cause ice storms in hot places and tidal waves in dry places, but it looked pretty awesome. For once, the bad guy's plan was pretty good. I kept trying to poke holes in it, but there was an answer for every question I had. I'm now considering taking over the world myself with massive natural disasters. The good guys, on the other hand, seriously need to rework their plans. Why didn't it occur to them that a satellite communication might not be secure just because no one else happens to be standing in the room? Why would you put Gladiator in charge of an engineering project? Why do you need to reset the system manually? Why do they even have a self-destruct option? In the genre of disaster films, this is one of my favorites. Not quite Independence Day, but way, way above 2012. The characters were engaging, the badguys were scary, and saving of the world was a relief. Oh, and I seriously need the phone pens of the future. 

What I didn't: I was really happy the film wrapped up so many loose ends and managed to come in under two hours, but it made for some very quick resolution at the end: boom! we're fixing this, boom! now we're fixing that, boom! now the news media that had no idea what was going on is all over explaining everything. 

Who should watch this? People who like natural disasters. People who like watching the weather. People who unexpectedly get a babysitter and want to watch the world end.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Titanic

What I liked: Liked is definitely the wrong word for it but the scenes of the sinking of the Titanic were masterful. They were technologically impressive, apparently remarkably accurate, and emotionally gripping. The variety of ways in which different people dealt with a completely hopeless situation was both touching and thought provoking. Especially beautiful was the string quartet. In isolation from the love story, the sinking of the Titanic is a tragic reminder of the cost of hubris and the necessity of regulating emergency procedures and capacities. It carries similar gravitas as a war film. At the 25th anniversary of the film, I can appreciate how Titanic has impacted movies made later.  What I didn't: So here's the thing. I feel very bad for you if you died in the sinking of the Titanic. I feel less bad for you if you managed to get on a lifeboat on the Titanic and then decided to get off. I question all of your decision making and priorities if you decide to get off a...

Annihilation

  What I liked: I liked the crystal trees and the creepy people plants. The multi colored lichen and flowers were cool too. I liked how disorienting the loss of time and flashbacks were, they did a good job of maintaining the disquiet and suspense. I liked that they remembered that mutation and evolution has no goal, it's just a thing that happens with all kinds of side effects. I liked their little boat trip in giant crocodile infested swamp. I'm not sure if I loved the silver skin suit but I can't deny that it was interesting.  What I didn't: The heroes are all scientists who go on a mission to find out what is going on inside the "shimmer". For being all scientists they don't draw very well on their test one variable at a time training. If nothing has ever come out of the shimmer, try sticking a stick in and see if you can pull it out. Step inside with a harness on so if you don't come back they can try and pull you back. Walk in a little ways and t...

See how the run

What I liked: I liked how very enthusiastic the sergeant was. And I appreciated that, remarkably, both the senior detective and the assistant were competent. It seems like usually this is a one or the other kind of pairing so I lament the partnership that inevitably formed somewhere else in the department of two incompetent officers. The story boarding was very fun and it was very clear that the director in the film had never seen nor heard anything about The Mousetrap. I liked the recurring snow shovel. For the second time in as many months the detectives were using the means, motive, opportunity chart for the suspects. Still no sign of a murderer using one though.   What I didn't: Why after you take a tumble through a cake and a pile of shellfish would you go find a replacement outfit in the costume department of the theater instead of just going back to your house? I mean I might enjoy that, you could come back to the party dressed as Henry VIII, or a demigorgon, or a tree....