Film Review: Greenland 末世綠洲 (2020) - USA

Film Review: Greenland 末世綠洲 (2020) - USA

Reviewed by Andrew CHAN (Film Critics Circle of Australia)

Help me reach one review per day in 2021. 2021 Review count - 02/365

https://www.patreon.com/neofilmreviews

Buy me a coffee ☕️ or two to support our Asian cinema film reviews since 2004!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/neofilmblog

As with most disaster epic pictures, there is always an element of the inevitability of what’s going to happen. “Greenland” manages to entertain by focusing on the key characters and their livelihood situations making it a well rounded survival experience with an end of the world scenario playing out in front of our eyes. Gerard Butler is right at home as the ordinary husband and father trying to protect his family against the odds. Director Ric Roman Waugh manages to pace the two hour epic with ease and plenty of tension and chaos, after all in such pandemic filled year, everything seems possible.

Gerard Butler is excellent as the flawed human being trying to overcome domestic issues with his wife as well as protecting his family in face of the impending end of the world. Morena Baccarin is equally up to the task with a strong performance as the mother and wife. Baccarin in particular holds the more delicate scenes well, including the violent pharmacy scene. Scott Glenn manages to steal the scenes which an extended cameo as the granddad and adds a layer of emotions to the pending finale.

All in all, “Greenland” is precisely what you expect to see in a disaster epic flick with a B-movie premises, except this one is well acted with plenty of characters that are explored and given adequate attention. The CGI are adequate without overshadowing the human factors and the chaos depicted are closer to what may actually happen when the end is near. Who gets selected and who are left the die, remains unanswerable questions. As a disaster film, this one does better than most with a real human touch.

I rated it 7/10