Geostorm (2017)

★½
Geostorm is Dean Devlin taking a stab at directing a disaster movie after years of producing Roland Emmerich's projects. He was very capable at that job, delivering profitable movies without the production headaches of something like Waterworld. If his debut film in the director's chair is any indication, Devlin's strengths truly lie in producing. The possibility exists that he could make a better movie down the road, but I never spotted anything here that demonstrated that he learned anything from his business partner in terms of storytelling and presentation. Maybe he figured that he could just go with what works because it worked before and brought in the money. Whatever his thinking, Geostorm is a tepid sci-fi disaster movie that isn't a complete disaster on its own, but it shows that Devlin has a ways to go if he wants to match the excitement of Emmerich's The Day After Tomorrow.

The plot isn't complicated. Everything makes sense. The characters are established. The motivations are made clear. There's even a twist that makes us rethink who is the mastermind behind the whole disaster scenario, and when we realize who is really responsible for the nefarious plot, we get it. What Devlin doesn't do is making any of this compelling. There are lots of special effects, but there's little in the way of forward momentum. The movie opens with a press conference in which the lead scientist on a world-saving endeavor is ousted in favor of political cronies to carry on the mission. The stuffed suits on the panel behave like standard movie politicians who don't adhere to common sense, but their stance gets no exposition, so their hostility is a simply a cheap way to dismiss the hero only to call on him later to save the day.

A series of deadly storms of increasing intensity has ravaged every point on the globe. In response, the nations of the world come together to create Dutch Boy, a weather control system that can prevent large scale disasters and save humanity. Gerard Butler stars as Jake Lawson, the designer in charge of the project and commander of the space station that oversees the network of climate control mechanisms in orbit. After his unceremonious dismissal, he retreats to his home and daughter Hannah (Talitha Bateman), the narrator at the movie's start. Dutch Boy goes on without him, but his services are needed after weather incidents in Hong Kong and Afghanistan suggest that the system is compromised. Jake's brother is Max (Jim Sturgess), with whom he has an antagonistic relationship. Max works in the U.S. State Department for Secretary of State Leonard Dekkom (Ed Harris). When Dutch Boy shows signs of failure, Max and Secretary Dekkom call on Jake to investigate.

The action splits between the space station and the earth. Jake finds evidence of sabotage, and he stealthily delivers the news to his brother in a great scene that deserves to be in a better movie. Max uncovers an insidious plot for control of Dutch Boy and enlists his fiancée Sarah (Abbie Cornish), a Secret Service agent, to assist. The plot carries on and is resolved as expected, with a minor wrinkle thrown in here and there to keep us off balance. A traditional disaster movie relies on awesome special effects to carry the day, but the ones in Geostorm don't look as polished. The protective grid above Earth is a C.G.I. creation, but it's too obvious. Everything about the Devlin-produced Independence Day from 1996 looked better than this.

Gerard Butler is his usual gruff self. He carries the movie well, and his supporting cast keeps up with him for the most part. Veteran actors Andy Garcia and Ed Harris are fine. The conviction is there, but Devlin just doesn’t build up any excitement, and without the convincing special effects of 2012 (also directed by Emmerich but not produced by Devlin), Geostorm generates little tension. The tsunamis, earthquakes, hailstorms and lighting strikes come across as samples from someone’s demo reel rather than truly threatening natural weather events. Devlin’s productions were often criticized for being too focused on special effects. Ironically, his debut film comes up short in that category.

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