Geostorm

In the near future, the earth’s weather has reached such catastrophic levels that the leaders of the world create a hi-tech, multi-satellite-strong orbital network to control the weather and prevent disaster. Three years on, random catastrophes from subzero tidal waves in Dubai to lethal post-sundown solar rays in China begin to occur. Chief Architect Jake Lawson (Butler – who else?), the original designer behind the system known as “Dutchboy”, is summoned back to the International Space Station to find out what or who is sabotaging the system, and prevent a “Geostorm” – a global meteorological event that will wipe out mankind.

Big-budget disaster flicks – at least from the producers behind Independence Day (and its disastrous sequel Resurgence) - are almost as frequent as weather reports, but nowhere near as relevant (though in some cases, arguably more accurate). Geostorm is as outlandish and as cliché-ridden as most of its kind, but does come armed with two extra ingredients that at least marginally set it apart: a whodunit, and a future-based setting. There’s never a dull moment here either, and with enough of a plot to justify its existence.

A bit too late to grit these streets...

While the disaster genre exists less to raise awareness of the vulnerability of our species, and more to sell popcorn (on-screen explosions make us hungry, it seems), there’s something frighteningly-contemporary about this one, given that we’ve likely already past the point of no return where climate change is concerned, with the future of our planet more uncertain than it’s ever been. Sadly, though, as inconvenient a truth as it might be, a Hollywood film can change nothing. So let’s just hope a real “geostorm” is centuries off, and not as soon as, say, the day after tomorrow.

For my full audio review which was aired on Swindon 105.5, click here.