Gerard Butler Dominates in Shocking Disaster Thriller Now Streaming on HBO’s Max
Gerard Butler has saved the planet more times than I can count. In Zack Snyder’s 300, he portrayed King Leonidas, and his chiseled abs catapulted him to international acclaim. Subsequently, Butler has led the Has Fallen trilogy of films, saved errant passengers in Plane, and saved the world from weather-induced destruction in Geostorm, a perennial guilty pleasure of mine. Now he’s doing it all again on HBO’s Max streaming service.
One of Butler’s best roles is also one of his most underrated. Everyone here at Dread Central knows I love a good disaster movie, especially those that merge unprecedented, destructive scale with underpinnings of horror. I’m talking films like The Tower and The Wave, and one of the latest editions with Ric Roman Waugh’s Greenland, a disaster movie that’s regularly pretty terrifying. So frightening is the film, Greenland has crashed into the Max Top 10 like a comet racing toward Earth.
Per Max: Gerard Butler stars as a man who embarks on a harrowing journey of survival with his family in this epic end-of-the-world thriller.
On the surface, Greenland sounds like every disaster movie that’s come before. A bit of Moonfall, a touch of Deep Impact. It also sounds a lot like several Gerard Butler movies that have come before. But trust me, this COVID-19 casualty is so, so much better than it sounds. So much so, the film’s unprecedented streaming success has led to a sequel that recently wrapped filming in August 2024. Bring on Greenland: Migration.
Principally, what sets Greenland apart is both the scale and writer Chris Sparling’s preeminent interest in the human side of things. Now, make no mistake, the scale and destruction are all there. Comets do indeed crash into the planet, making for plenty of eye-catching moments. Between those, however, are harrowing scenes of kidnapped children, desperate pleas for help, and nihilistic concessions to an extinction-level event. It’s heavy stuff, and for all the boom, pow explosions, Greenland is pretty upsetting stuff. It’s certainly not a fun disaster movie, and that subversion no doubt accounts for the film’s strong critical reception.
Now that Greenland is streaming on Max, it’s the perfect time to check it out. Before you migrate over to the sequel, set to release this year, find out what Greenland is all about. When you do, let me know what you think over on Twitter @Chadiscollins. While you’re there, let me know what other disaster movies are your favorite. I’m a huge fan of the subgenre and am always on the hunt for recommendations.
Categorized:News
