GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION: Life After Death From Above

GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION (Blu-ray)

2026 / 98 min

Lionsgate

Review by Princess Pepper😽

Here at Free Kittens, disaster has always been our favorite genre. Good ones, bad ones, big ones, small ones, old ones, new ones…if mass destruction is on the menu, we’re ready to dig in. So please indulge us if we seem more generous in our assessment of Greenland 2: Migration than it might otherwise warrant.

That being said, 2020’s Greenland was not only great, it was the best disaster film since Contagion. There’d been plenty of previous films depicting celestial objects threatening the Earth, but in this one, there’s no Bruce Willis around to save the day. The planet is screwed, and all we can hope is that the Garrity family makes it to a bunker in Greenland before the comet hits.

Spoiler alert, kids! They made it, otherwise there wouldn’t be a Greenland 2, not with the same main cast anyway. The question is…did we really need a Greenland 2? Probably not, but when your first one was a surprise hit (during COVID, no less), of course you’re gonna find a way. I’m just glad they found a way with Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin returning as John & Allison Garrity, because they were the heart of the story. 

They’re the heart of this one, too, though the narrative is driven more by action and spectacle than the complexities of their relationship. Taking place five years after the Clarke comet wiped out 75% of the population, much of Earth is uninhabitable and subjected to radiation, electromagnetic storms, earthquakes, tsunamis and stray comet fragments. However, one of the scientists of the Thule Bunker (where the Garritys reached in order to survive) has a theory that the Clarke impact crater could be where new life may be thriving. Unfortunately, that’s in France, thousands of miles away.

"This is your Happy Place?"

But after another quake decimates the bunker, the Garritys and a few others survivors embark on a perilous journey to the crater in hopes that the theory is correct. This is the primary focus of the story, which is actually pretty similar to the one presented in 1977’s Damnation Alley, only with better special effects and no giant scorpions. Instead, they’re forced to deal with killer winds, fireballs, marauders, warring coalitions and (most ominously) John’s worsening radiation sickness. A lot of secondary characters die along the way, usually after 5-10 minutes of screen time, their narrative purpose served. The one exception is the Garritys' son, Nathan, now a teenager and played this time by Roman Griffin Davis (I guess the other kid didn’t grow up fast enough). But even he’s mostly just along for the ride.

The film’s episodic structure sometimes works against it. When focusing on action, the film is very entertaining, even suspenseful at times, given considerable oomph by great production design and special effects (I loved the bridge sequence!). Conversely, the down time in between is less engaging. The cast does their best and Butler is once again excellent in his role, but other than plot exposition, the screenplay doesn’t often give them anything interesting to say.

Still, for a sequel that sometimes feels superfluous, Greenland 2 isn’t bad at all. It doesn’t hold a candle to the first film, nor does it feel nearly as plausible. But at least it never descends into stupidity, and as someone who’s experienced plenty of that in the disaster genre, I'll take it. With tempered expectations, there’s some fun apocalyptic mayhem to be found here. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Rebuilding is an interview with director Ric Roman Waugh; Pushing Forward is an interview with actor/producer Gerard Butler; Heart and Soul is an interview with actress Morena Baccarin; What We Leave Behind is an interview with actor Roman Griffin Davis.

TRAILER

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