'Greenland 2: Mid-Gration'
The disaster movie is an old category. It was huge in the 70s, faded away for a while, then came back in the 90s. It’s pretty much a B-movie category that’s made to be a disposable watch, which explains why The Dark Knight Rises was so forgettable compared to the first two masterful films. Now it’s pretty much a guarantee that if Gerard Butler is starring in your film, it’s likely going to be in the disaster category. Mr. Butler is one of those unintentionally funny actors. He’s playing the scenes as serious as he can, but like Arnold Schwarzenegger, once that thick accent of his kicks in, I can’t help but giggle a little bit. That’s not good when a movie about cataclysmic events, which isn’t supposed to be funny, ends up having me laugh more than clutching my pearls in suspense.
Greenland set the stepping ground for a promising sequel, even if the movie itself wasn’t that great. Greenland was a movie that played all the familiar tropes. Which, considering the movie wasn’t trying to break any new ground, is perfectly fine. It was your prototypical tale of a family trying to survive the apocalypse. Spoiler: they do. If they didn’t, there wouldn’t be a Greenland 2. The movie was loaded with action and featured extremely convenient plot devices, like everyone miraculously showing up at vital locations that are seemingly all right next to each other. Greenland 2 is more of the same, but even less clever (which I didn’t know was possible) than the original. Furthermore, it has some of the most forgettable supporting cast I’ve seen in a while.
At one point along the way, one female character sticks around with the Garrity family, making me ask the whole time, “Who’s that again?” If the screenwriters of the movie can’t create more interesting characters, maybe stick with the stock cliche players from movie one, like the bigot who tries to snatch Gerard Butler’s passes or the white trash couple who attempts to steal little Nathan Garrity.
In movie two, we have more of a mix between good and bad guys, where hardly any of them are distinguishable. The film really needed an external protagonist other than Mother Nature. The principal cast is merely okay. Gerard Butler plays a tough but loveable Scottish guy, who's always trying to do the right thing and make up for the past. Pretty much, he gets into fights, resolves problems, and tells his family to run when danger approaches. The son is just kind of there. There’s not much to be said about Nathan (Roman Griffin Davis). He’s certainly more aware and independent with age, but where’s his big moment? If he did have one, I certainly didn’t notice it since the film was such a bland snoozer.
The wife, Allison (Morena Baccarin), has more to do in this film than she did in the last one, where she had to cry constantly and wait for her husband to save her. Here, she actually tries to help the other survivors in her bunker strategize for the future. As for the rest of the cast, it’s hard to remember anything else about them other than posing a risk to the Garritys.
The beginning of the picture had some promise. We start with John Garrity (Gerard Butler) wandering the barren wasteland in a hazmat suit, searching for any sign of breathable air. Here’s a huge plothole. Why did the military open the bunker doors after the comet dropped in the first film? Wouldn’t they want to avoid everyone getting radiation poisoning? Well, in movie two, radiation is what John and many others are exposed to. Good! Let’s see some real-life consequences due to uninformed, non-scientific grunt orders.
This film could explore the hypocrisy within a military hierarchy, but instead it opts for scene after scene of slapped-together action sequences. Even worse, whatever loose structure the first film had is a total mess in the second film. Each scenario is rushed together as if there were only one meeting in the writer’s room, with very few questions asked and limited redrafts written. By the time we get to London in Act II, the movie becomes filler, even though it's already as short as it is.
To make the film even more forgettable, it doesn’t know how it wants to look or sound. There’s one particular scene where two characters are having a normal conversation while a choir sings in the background, which is way too dramatic for such a simple setup. Secondly, if the movie wants to look like a documentary, then really go for it through a modern lens rather than giving the audience a generic Jason Bourne shaky-cam feeling. Even today’s smartphones have built-in stabilizers, making shakiness a thing of the past. So, how else can you make your movie look like a documentary? Maybe go Sean Baker/Danny Boyle with it and shoot it on an iPhone.
Between a forgettable plot and dull new supporting characters, the layout for Greenland 2: Migration isn’t very solid. With a few more cracks at the script and some much-needed humor, the film could flourish a little more. This is a disaster film after all, so have some fun with it instead of taking everything so darned seriously. It’s not like the world is actually ending. Oh, wait, never mind.
