Hollywood has certainly reached the saturation point for disaster movies, when Day after tomorrow, 2012 and even the recent San Andreas hit the screens the CGI helped the disaster screenplay and direction to provide entertainment and some climate change awareness. Now with Gerald Butler taking helm as a scientist who gets to save the world more than once, the artificial disaster movie becomes tad boredom without much to offer. Geo Storm is just again that end of the world movie, completely taken in US, those sky scrapers blown to pieces, ships tossed around and people running helter shelter. All these could have been more framed interestingly had the director put in some sheen into the screenplay, sadly it was never the case from go.
In the near future where the earth is protected by a weather controlling space station called "Dutch Boy", a massive array of storms, directly caused by the now malfunctioning station, results in an international mission headed by its fallen inventor (Butler) Meanwhile, his brother (Jim) on earth discovers Dutch Boy's malfunction is due to the machinations of a group intent on assassinating the U.S president (Andy) and taking over whatever’s left of the world after the storms wipes everyone out.
A terrorizing attack on the world from above at the same time when the threat to the president goes real! The space station needs to be shut down, and only the President of the United States has the ‘kill codes’ that shuts it down for timesake. Our hero has a devilish plan: the President is due to address a party conference, and will be freshening up in his hotel room beforehand. He, Butler, can sneak into the room - with the help of his brother's Secret Service girlfriend - and steal the codes while the President is taking a shower! Looks like the whole idea behind these scenes is to infuse some light hearted humor, high speed chase and some Bourne/Bond snatch scenes, but in the end we are left scratching our heads if it was really necessary for such gruesome build ups. However, the plan is scrapped, and Butler has to settle for kidnapping the President instead.
The film resembles The Day After Tomorrow (2004) a deep freeze film that saw northern North America froze rock solid, declaring another ice age. Just as nature's fury hits mother earth shifting its total architecture, here its manmade disaster to save another disaster. "Geostorm" uses digital technology to lay waste to a bunch of cities and hacky screenwriting to assault the dignity of several fine actors. Directed by Dean Delvin, Geostorm loses on various fronts and only Butler's screen presence saves the day. He still looks fresh from 300, that hoarse voice with a sense of arrogance that sees some light in this otherwise dull storyline.Butler is a blue-collar hero who is driven by only one force - a promise he made to his 13-year-old daughter (that he would come back from space. If he can save the world in the meantime, all the good for everyone.
The problem is that the film keeps slowing down for the political moments. There often is this kind of problem when a director works from his own script. Geostorm shines on the CGi and life threatening moments, loses everywhere else.
