Greenland
A few years go I watched a documentary at the IU Cinema about a massive project to save the world’s seeds…just in case. The huge project began with a man seeing a photo of a Russian man dead at his desk during World War II. He had starved to death with a bag of rice in front of him because the grain was more important as a seed than a food. There are some people who understand how precarious our situation as sentient beings on this planet is, and are making plans to help a seed of humanity survive. There are also a lot of crazies strutting around waving guns wearing flak jackets stretched over their beer bellies. I like the heroic stories better.
He may be good at building skyscrapers, but John Garrity (Gerard Butler, Angel Has Fallen) sucks at being a husband. He goes home early to his wife Allison (Morena Baccarin, Firefly, Deadpool) and takes a chance on using his key instead of ringing the doorbell. Oh, oh! Son Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd, Doctor Sleep, Stranger Things) is glad to see him, anyway. Nathan is enthused about a huge comet’s close flyby. Oh, oh! Shortly, John gets an alert that he needs to get himself and his family on a military plane bound for a secret base somewhere. (*pssst* it’s in Greenland) Of course nothing goes smoothly.
At least now we know why a certain someone wants Greenland.
Y’all know I’m a sucker for apocalypse movies though they tend to be laughably bad, like zombie films. Now and then you’ll get a good one. The ones that are good do what this film does. First, you hire a good writer who knows how to show instead of tell and have the action move the story instead of people talking to each other. There is a lot of foreshadowing of the incoming huge event, paced perfectly with solid use of social media and establishing shots of the civilization about to be destroyed. With not an ounce of fat on the bone, the writer Chris Sparling pushes the film firmly in what seems like a straightforward direction at an appropriately growing pace.
Next, the filmmakers must be brave enough to show the actions of good and evil in a desperate time. The end of the world should feel pretty bad and scary, and the story should strip people of the veneer of civilization. They’re not afraid to baldly portray the conundrum we were taught during the Cold War nuclear scare era of the 60s. If you and your family have a route to safety, say on a military flight, what do you do when people beg you and threaten you to take them with when you know you can’t?
Also, there should be some easily recognizable imagery that constantly reminds the viewer they’re watching a scary apocalypse movie, like flights of crazed birds streaking overhead (every Roland Emerich film) and streaks of debris hitting the ground and blowing things up (2012). This time we also get flocks of humongous military jets to up the ante. Of course, the bigger the emergency, the more people stand around looking shocked instead of taking action. This is the best use ever of slow motion people to up the drama and get you yelling at the screen to “Move it, dumbass!”
There were some differences that I appreciated, like not making it about the everyman who somehow survives. Sure, the Garritys win a sort of lottery without having bought a ticket, but they’re still heroic in their fight to survive without becoming evil jerks.
I had not heard of this film before flicking through the streaming services and was surprised to discover it’s not new. But I’m very happy to have found it and will happily add it to my collection of apocalypse movies. This is a good film, and I highly recommend you check it out if you want to watch some deep drama in a format that is normally really silly.
Triggers: violence, end of the world, tense situations
Available on: Max, Sling, apple tv, prime video, Fandango at Home, Row8
LINKS:
CFR: In Addition
Nope. Nope. Nope. Just like the guy in Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. I can’t do end of the world movies. I’ve purged that terror from my psyche and I don’t need anything to help it creep back.
Clearly Cranky is made of sterner stuff than myself. Go Cranky!
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