IR Film Review: GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION [Lionsgate]
The aspect of apocalyptic films is an interesting play on the human condition. The original "Greenland" explored the initial aftermath of a comet strike on the Earth and how it throws everything into chaos. Shot mostly in Georgia before eventually ending at its namesake through a path of increasingly dread filled situations, it progressed to a point where there was an Ark aspect to the idea but what might come of it would be anyone's guess. Gerard Butler, like Jason Statham, but in a different way, has found a way to crash his own corner of the concept realm while still delivering box office. Usually it coalesces within smaller projects. Seemingly "Greenland", bolstered by the pandemic, did well to allow the story to move on. "Greenland 2: Migration" is bigger in scale and obviously takes on a different locale in a way. Beginning in Greenland where the last film ended, utopia, or what the inhabitants were hoping for, doesn't turn out in the way they hoped.
5 years later the air is still problematic and the remnants of the comet are still raining down from orbit. The escape and progression, including the use of a lifeboat, is actually very well done. They eventually land in Europe throttled by the want to get to what might be a new Eden, the site of the original crater impact. There is definitely a big element of improbability to the proceedings but it provides a good goal and several harrowing sequences including a face/off between European factions trying to protect or seize a certain part near the crater. Morena Baccarin is back as Butler's wife and seems to take on a much more central story point here as well in terms of plot decisions. What is interesting is the play to the resolution which is an interesting choice for Butler and gives the film more weight than the first one. There is an underlying situation as a plot point that advances this. It is a little melodramatic in a certain way but serves its purpose in the story it is telling.
A side stop in France with William Abadie as Denis Laurent, a man with a terminally ill wife and a teenage daughter, actually provides a visage of humanity for a family in a different spot and a concession of hope but also tragedy. The young son of Garrity (Butler) from the first one is replaced by an older actor but it very seamlessly fits together. The aspect of insulin still does play a significant spot within the character in his parents' decisions for survival. That said, despite some of these narrative cliches, ""Migration" does quite well in providing drama, dread, action and a sense of humanity while not completely breaking the bank, a rare trick in today's marketplace, while still providing a spectacle that works well on the big screen. B+
By Tim Wassberg
