Movie - Geostorm (2017)

 

My views

• Bad acting for Jim Sturgess

Plot

In 2019, following many catastrophic natural disasters, an international coalition commissions "Dutch Boy", a system of climate-controlling satellites. After it neutralizes a typhoon in Shanghai, a US Senate subcommittee reprimands chief architect Jake Lawson, who brought Dutch Boy online without authorization. He is replaced by his brother Max, who works under US Secretary of State Leonard Dekkom.

Three years later, a UN team stationed in the Registan Desert discovers a frozen village. Makmoud Habib, an Indian engineer working on the International Climate Space Station (ICSS), copies data from the satellite responsible for Afghanistan onto a hard drive before being killed in a supposed accident. After convincing U.S. President Andrew Palma to conduct an investigation, Max persuades Jake to go to the ICSS to investigate. In Hong Kong, a satellite severely increases temperatures, causes fire whirls and collapses multiple buildings.

Jake arrives at the ICSS to examine the malfunctioning satellites, which were damaged and their data erased. He works with station commander Ute Fassbinder and her crew, consisting of engineer Eni Adisa, systems specialist Duncan Taylor, technician Al Hernandez, and security officer Ray Dussette. They recover the hard drive but hide it from the crew, suspecting a traitor. Examining the data, they discover that a virus has been introduced, causing the malfunctions and wiping out the login access of key senior people to the satellite.

Suspecting Palma is using Dutch Boy as a weapon, Jake tells Max he needs to reboot the system to eliminate the virus, requiring the kill code held by Palma. The ICSS staff neutralizes malfunctioning satellites by deliberately knocking them offline via collisions with replacement ones. Back on Earth, Cheng Long discovers that he and Max have lost login access and warns Max of a global cataclysm known as a "Geostorm" if the malfunction continues. Cheng is pursued to Washington, D.C. by a team of rogue government agents led by Rico, who kill him in a traffic incident, but not before he says "Zeus."

Discovering Project Zeus simulates extreme weather patterns to create a Geostorm, Max enlists his girlfriend, Secret Service agent Sarah Wilson, to acquire the code. During this time, the ICSS team loses control of all operations as the virus initiates the self-destruct program.

During the DNC in Orlando, Florida, Max discovers Orlando is next to be targeted after a massive hailstorm hits Tokyo and an offshore cold snap takes out a portion of Rio de Janeiro. Max requests Dekkom's help, who instead tries to kill him, revealing himself as the saboteur.

Max informs Sarah, so they kidnap Palma to protect him from Dekkom's agents and secure the kill code. As they escape from the arena before a lightning storm destroys it, Max discloses their activities and Dekkom's treachery to Palma. After outsmarting Dekkom's mercenaries, the three arrest Dekkom and confront him about his plan to eliminate the other elected officials in America's line of succession, allowing him to dominate the world while eliminating America's enemies. Max and Sarah escort Palma to the Kennedy Space Center and transmit the code but learn that the self-destruct sequence cannot be stopped. More weather disasters occur globally. Duncan is actually the traitor who masterminded Habib's death and created the storms on Dekkom's orders, and Jake confronts him. Duncan is killed in the ensuing fight while Jake escapes. As the crew evacuates the station, Jake and Ute stay behind to ensure the system's reboot, eliminating the virus and transferring satellite control to NASA, thus preventing the Geostorm at the last second.

They then escape in a replacement satellite as the self-destruct sequence completes. After they use the replacement satellite's thrusters as a beacon, a nearby shuttle piloted by Hernandez picks them up. Six months later, Jake is working as the head engineer for Dutch Boy once more, now administered by an international committee who rebuild the space station.