Gerald Butler has experienced an action hero rebirth in the past decade, starring in blockbuster films like Olympus Has Fallen, the Den of Thieves duology, and—most notably—his 2023 thriller Plane, which is currently ranked as the third most popular film globally on Netflix. However, if you’re a fan of the Scottish actor’s late-career renaissance, there’s one film of his from 2020 that not only tops the adrenaline-fueled heights of Plane, it also displays Butler’s unique status as both an “everyman” and an action star.
Set in a near-apocalyptic world threatened by an extinction-level comet (which is unᴀssumingly named “Clarke“), Greenland sees Gerard Butler star as John Garrity, a structural engineer who must race to save his wife and diabetic son from the impending doom of Clarke’s impact. Directed by Ric Roman Waugh, who reunited with Butler after the pair collaborated on Angel Has Fallen, the 2020 film succeeds in raising the emotional stakes through reframing its lead actor’s “tough guy” persona with a Die Hard approach towards action and conflict, reinforcing Butler’s status as a family man with a keen sense of determination.
Greenland Is The Perfect Movie For Fans Of Gerard Butler’s Plane
Family Is At The Heart Of The 2020 Film
The most refreshing aspect of Greenland is its insistence on framing John Garrity as an ordinary everyman (ignoring his movie star looks and physique, of course). Rather than a top FBI agent or an elite member of Special Forces, Garrity is a middle-aged estranged father with one simple mission: rescue his family from the planet-killer rapidly approaching Earth. It might be the most straightforward and understandable goal in cinematic history, and this simplicity elevates the stakes and forces the audience to ask themselves what they would do in this horrific, near-unfathomable situation.
Family is the lifeblood of Greenland, and it—and many similar survival tales—would be doomed to irrelevancy without it.
Fans of Butler’s Plane will appreciate the stripped-down pacing of Greenland, which wastes little time in setting up the main conflict and thrusting its characters into survival mode. It’s hard to overstate the role family plays in driving Greenland‘s story, as the film surpᴀsses Plane in familial investment. This is best demonstrated when Garrity abandons a military plane on course to an underground bunker to retrieve his disqualified wife and son, potentially dooming his own life on the chance he can save his family. Family is the lifeblood of Greenland, and it would be doomed to irrelevancy without it.
Greenland & Plane Are Gerard Butler’s Best Movies In Recent Years
The Actor’s Late Career Has Flourished With These New Roles
Although Gerard Butler will likely be best remembered for his role as Leonidas in Zack Snyder’s 300, his recent acting renaissance has truly gifted us with some excellent action thrillers in the past few years, none better than Plane and Greenland. Though some may criticize these films for not containing the quintessential Butler action hero roles, this is precisely their greatest and most powerful weapon, as—let’s face it—the actor is 55 years old, and in need of branching out and exploring other parts as he matures into the late stage of his career as a Hollywood lead.
With this in mind, Butler’s performances as the more-or-less ordinary but determined everyman in both Greenland and Plane prove that he can still kick ᴀss while venturing into new territory as a leading man, and, truthfully, we should be thankful that the Scottish actor has yet to ham it in like other aging action stars have in the past. So, if you enjoyed Plane on Netflix, and are in search of another action thriller whose plot and action are comparable or even better, Greenland, and—with luck—its 2025 sequel, Greenland: Migration, are the films for you.
