In Mel Gibson's Hurricane Maria Movie, Root For The Bad Guys
Let's check on how the Mel Gibson Hollywood rehabilitation tour is going, shall we? For the past few years, the hatemonger from down under has been deftly sneaking back into the movie industry, leaning into his "I know I'm a deadbeat dad, but how about that game of catch" vibe to star in raunchy B-comedies and indie action flicks. But when times are tough, and the alimony payments start piling up, sometimes you got to lean on what you know. And what Mel Gibson knows is how to be the shittiest white guy in the room.
Force of Nature is an upcoming hurricane action movie trying to ride the current wave of confusion about which VOD releases are theater quality and which were always destined to be a bargain bin disappointment. It's definitely the latter, the trailer awash with bad cinematography, one-liners fished out of Steven Seagal's paper wastebasket and performances so lackluster they couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag.
The movie stars Mel Gibson, Emile Hirsch, and Kate Bosworth as three Puerto Ricans stuck in a Hurricane Maria-like disaster because Gibson's retired detective has watched too much Fox News and refuses to evacuate. But plans change when they discover a group of criminals is using the calamity as a cover to orchestrate a heist. Now trapped in the tenement tower, it's up to the rookie cop, doctor daughter, and Gibson's fish-out-of-water (and slurring on alcohol) cop to sneak around and save the day -- yippee-ki-yay. Yup, it's Die Hard in bad weather.
Except that, to my best recollection, John McClane wasn't separated from his wife for making racist rape threats, or for choking and bodyslamming her onto the floor. But that's the kind of abuser magic Force of Nature brings to the table before dragging it kicking and screaming over said table, with Gibson and Hirsch having been convicted of spousal battery and assault on a female industry member respectively. And you have to feel for Kate Bosworth, who was probably never sure what she should be most afraid of: her co-leads, the hurricane, or the freaking chupacabra that jumps out of nowhere.
Of course, Force of Nature knows very well who the bad guys are: brown people. The movie has already caused floods of outrage online for having three of the whitest leads in town battling wave after wave of non-white gangsters led by the ever charismatic David Zayas. And many Puerto Ricans are not taking kindly to some C-list filmmaker shipping a bunch of Hollywood's biggest scumbags to their still-recovering island and raking in tax breaks with a hurricane-sploitation movie where white savior douchebags mow down minorities during a humanitarian crisis.
And all this carnage because, what? They want to steal from Gibson's multi-millionaire neighbor? Just ... let them? There are bigger things to worry about than some rich dude's rainy day fund when the water is coming up to your waist. Honestly, we're with the bad guys on this one.
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Top Image: Lionsgate
