Why You Liked … Geostorm

I didn’t expect to be writing this script, and you didn’t expect to be seeing it, either. But we’re here, so let’s get through my alternative facts review of Geostorm. And after I upload this, I will check myself into therapy. Or jail. Either way, me enjoying this movie should be a war crime in itself, but here we are.

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When I was on a recent plane trip (because this is 100% a plane movie), I was scrolling through the dross that exists to torture you to sleep. Geostorm popped up. It felt like a movie that could be so bad it was good, but I needed to be physically prepared to give it a shot (you know: strapped to a chair, flying above the Tasman Sea without any escape). With no way out, and only worse options like Godzilla x Kong on offer, I clicked ‘play’.

The Elephant in the Room… with Space Lasers

Okay, let’s get this out of the way. The premise—that we have weather satellites that can destroy the world with magic lasers—shouldn’t work. All watchers will need to understand that going in. The whole conceit of ‘space lasers’ is tremendously stupid.

And the villain? IMDb calls this a 5.4, an also-ran, and that’s probably fair if you thought you were going to see a world-ends-in-apocalypse movie. The world won’t end itself, though, and that’s where we need an evil bastard. In Geostorm’s case, the evil bastard’s motivations are clownish, almost at the level that would make the Coyote blush. Movies demand villains, so we got Ed Harris as Leonard Dekkom, the punchable right-hand man to the President, trying to keep a straight face while he blows up the same planet everyone needs to live on. It’s a ridiculous setup, but we’ve already passed Go on space lasers, so I guess we’re committed. But the trailer hinted that something else was going on. There’s a scene where they kidnap the President in a self-driving taxi, and after Secret Service Barbie does her thing, the President deadpans to Max, “Marry her.” It gave me hope, a sign that Geostorm might actually have a sense of humour.

The movie didn’t skimp on its special effects in its attempt to cover up the sucking void of believability, either. When the oceans tear apart the UAE or hellfire consumes Hong Kong, it’s done with the kind of micronutrient-free bombast that’s made Michael Bay famous. But surprisingly, this isn’t a Bay movie. It’s directed by Dean Devlin, the producer behind hits like Independence Day; he’s clearly learned a thing or two about making high-class spectacle that commands your attention. This doesn’t play like an Unreal Engine 4 project done by a group of college grads who were trying to get extra credit during their philosophy major.

So, where does that leave us? Well: with a fun movie. A thrill ride, a cake of excitement, humour, and family—found and otherwise—that gives us a guilty pleasure without the guilt. It’s because despite the space lasers, villain, and explosions, Geostorm isn’t actually about any of that.

The Controller is the Point

While the trailer commits to the bit on a movie about weather-based space lasers, it’s actually just an excuse to get this ensemble cast together and tell a story about family and rediscovered brotherhood.

You know how when you were younger, your older brother always took the good console controller? Leaving you with the dreaded off-brand younger-sibling piece of shit where the triggers didn’t work right and the sticks made you constantly sidle to the left? But as you grew up, your older brother worked out how to share his toys, and you got time on the good controller. Well, they made a movie about it, except the controller is a satellite network that can blow up the planet.

It’s the excuse we need to get to the heart of the movie: the reforging of broken brotherhood. The movie’s initial foray sees scientist and older brother Jake Lawson (played by Gerard Butler) testifying before a Senate Committee, and he’s taken down a peg. Or, hell, since we’re riffing on analogies today, someone just removed his whole damn ladder. The reins of the weather control system, Dutch Boy, are handed to… his younger brother, Max Lawson (played by Jim Sturgess). This delivers a nuclear payload into the fault line that already existed between the Brothers Lawson; Max sees his career ascend to the literal heavens, while Jake is relegated to fixing broken-down cars in Cape Assville, Florida.

Despite what the trailer suggests, the film shows its hand almost immediately by unveiling that the relationship between Jake and Max is the real story. There is a scene where Max turns up to visit Jake right at the start of the movie. Jake’s doing Jake stuff inside his trailer, so Max spends a moment with his niece, Hannah. We can see right in that moment how Max still very much sees Hannah as part of his family, regardless of being cut off from her, and it’s this anchor that tethers him in place when Jake tries to push him away again.

They didn’t need to do this scene at all if the flick was just about space lasers.

Building Bridges (and Blowing Them Up)

Sure, okay, Jake and Max need to save the planet, but what they really need to knuckle down on is saving their torn family bonds. Amidst the good one-liners and banter, they’re seeking their own form of salvation. For this to happen, Jake gobbles down a supersized serving of black-feathered crow. This is shown as a tale of two halves; first, he accepts the mission to save Dutch Boy. Jake realises that despite Max being left in charge, Dutch Boy is his creation, his life’s work, and he needs to be humble to see the journey through. He needs to work for Max to save his dream.

And this is where Gerard Butler shines. When I saw Plane, another recent Butler performance, it felt like he’d turned up for a payday—a simple cash-grab movie where he could lend his Commonwealth charm to a movie in dire need of life support. Geostorm sees him actually act—ranging from anger to humility, from brash to concerned. While he’s in space, he realises through the actions of the station crew around him that maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t had it right all along. While he was the mission leader that built Dutch Boy, his wasn’t the only hand on a spanner. It’s this second half of his crow entree that leads a great ego toward understanding that the world doesn’t revolve around him.

The movie uses multiple tools to show us Jake’s evolution. A great example is his growing respect for Ute Fassbender, the station head played by Alexandra Maria Lara. She’s a quieter presence, the capable commander, and it would be easy for Butler to hog the screen. Instead, he uses his time with her to be self-effacing and show us that Jake is learning that he needs other people.

It’s because this theme of building bridges and testing relationships isn’t limited to the two brothers. Another example: Max and his girlfriend, Sarah (played by the powerhouse Abbie Cornish), are already a thing when the movie kicks off. Max already ‘has’ the girl, and he needs to risk that relationship to save the world. There’s a bridge between them, but is it strong enough to carry the weight? In the end, yes: they turn what was a fun and casual affair—say, a rope bridge—into something longer-standing, sturdy, and forged in industry, like the Golden Gate.

Even the supporting characters get moments that reinforce this. Zazie Beetz’s Dana provides much-needed comic relief; there’s a moment where she, a civilian, is hiding in the house of Abbie Cornish’s “Secret Service Barbie.” Sarah comes home, armed, and extremely dangerous, to find Stranger Danger Dana in her home. Dana babbles a series of amusing excuses, but her biggest concern is that she broke one of Sarah’s wine glasses. It’s a deeply humanising moment in a film that was, ultimately, about space lasers. Geostorm is reminding us that while the stakes are high, we’re risking it to save our everyday, humble lives where we do silly things like break a wine stem.

A B-Movie with an A-Grade Heart

Is Geostorm a silly movie? Yes. Are the villain’s motivations paper-thin? Absolutely. But the movie is about good guys who are good because they understand mistakes and how to help each other get over them, rather than simply saving the world. It’s a fresh take to see Butler’s tough-guy character actually let people in.

Geostorm has a strong emotional core that carries it right to the end, and this is why you’ll have fun watching it. While all the nonsense of the movie carries on, the relationships—between Jake and Max, Max and Sarah, and Jake and his crew—let us believe this is happening.

So if you’ve scrolled past Geostorm a hundred times, maybe give it a shot. If you wanted to see a movie where the good guys have to fix their family before they can fix the world, this could be worth your time. After all, what’s more dramatic than a geostorm? Trying to get along with your brother.

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