A father who works on a space station must save his 15-year-old daughter after a catastrophic meteor shower strikes Earth. Armed with only satellite phones and cameras, he embarks on a thrilling journey to rescue her.
The paradox of apocalyptic thrillers, especially when adding irony to the mix, is that criticism and warning can turn into catharsis and, eventually, into frivolity. Written and directed by Sam Esmail (creator of the series Mr. Robot) based on the novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam, Leave the World Behind belongs to the select club of films with that effect, like Don't Look Up or The Menu in recent years. The plot follows a couple (Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts) from New Jersey who, on a vacation with their children to Long Island, experience a series of disturbing events and the arrival of George Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter (Myha’la), the owners of the house they are staying in. Distrusting each other and cut off from the rest of the world, both families must confront what, at every moment, seems more like an existential threat. It functions as an entertaining and well-acted thriller that will give you a great time, although it is not as deep as it pretends to be.
What an intense, intense, and unexpected movie 'Greenland' is. Reuniting Gerard Butler and director Ric Roman Waugh after 'Angel Has Fallen', the feature film takes advantage of all the possible clichés of the so-called disaster films - like 'Geostorm', 'Independence Day' and the like. However, contrary to what usually happens, this is not exactly a bad thing. After all, even with so many generic moments in the story of a family trying to survive the end of the world, we find good moments here. Firstly, the good performance of Brazilian Morena Baccarin ('Deadpool') and Roger Dale Floyd ('Doctor Sleep'). Butler is also good, but doesn't differ much from other works. In addition, the film's sense of urgency stands out, with meteors coming to Earth. Something that, I confess, is much scarier than an earthquake or the like. It's a movie full of banalities and generic moments, but it hits the mark with that audience who likes adrenaline - and, on top of that, with some good reflections on morality and ethics at the end of the world.
In his first movie since the Oscar-winning 'Vice', director Adam McKay returns in 'Don't Look Up' without losing his acidic humor. The film, which is worthy of the filmmaker's return, has a star-studded cast - with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet and Meryl Streep - and a story that fits perfectly with the Covid-19 pandemic, experienced from 2020 onwards. In the plot, two astronomers try to warn the population about a comet capable of destroying the Earth, but no one believes them. The production brings timely reflections on the course that humanity has taken and how it affects our lives, especially in relation to the destruction of nature. 'Don't Look Up' is a great social and political satire, hitting the right rhythm and balance between brilliant and depressing.
You can say that Roland Emmerich is the father of disaster cinema. Although he was not the one to inaugurate the genre (‘War of the Worlds’ did that two years before the filmmaker was even born), it was the German who gave the popcorn cinema format for aliens invading Earth, earthquakes destroying the surface and a cold to kill - literally. In 'Moonfall', the feeling is that Emmerich takes everything that worked (and failed) in his career and puts it all into one story. After all, we follow the journey of astronauts (Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson) who face a monumental challenge: understanding what is happening with the Moon, which is leaving its orbit and starting to destabilize the Earth. From there, a dive into all the elements of this disaster cinema begins. Obviously, there is a lot out of tune: parallel plots that are not interesting, megalomaniac visual effects that do not convince, physical absurdities and so on. But in the end, there is one certainty: 'Moonfall' is very entertaining. You root for the characters, anxiously follow some catastrophes and so on. Technically problematic, yes. But the movie has heart. And that ends up being enough to keep us glued to the screen while the world (and the Moon) are collapsing in front of us.