‘Force Of Nature’ Trailer: Mel Gibson Thriller Has Gangs, A Raging Hurricane, And A Ton Of Controversy

Crawl, Hurricane Heist, and now the action-thriller Force of Nature. Is this going to be the thing now? Just doing some random genre shit and setting it against the backdrop of a raging hurricane? Well, at least this one has Mel Gibson shooting at folks, I guess. But there’s already a great deal of controversy, and it doesn’t have anything to do with Gibson or co-star Emile Hirsch. Ok, not all of it is about them.

Force of Nature stars Gibson, Hirsch, and Kate Bosworth, all three in…well, not the best stages of their careers? Gibson has definitely bounced back but it’s been a very long time since Into the Wild and Superman Returns. Geezus, I had to pick my brain to remember Bosworth was once actually Lois Lane.  Anyway, the film stars Gibson as a retired detective who teams up with his Bosworth’s doctor and Hirsch’s disgraced cop to battle a gang of thieves. At the same time they must escape their apartment building before a hurricane leaves the entire city flooded.  This looks pretty dumb, but could be worth a watch if looking to flip the brain off for a spell.

So the push-back Force of Nature is getting has to do with it being set in Puerto Rico where over 4000 people died due to Hurricane Maria. It also doesn’t help that you have a bunch of “good” white people killing all those “bad” Puerto Ricans. Twitter has been lit up over the last week with complaints the movie is tone-deaf. I’ll wait and see it for myself before deciding, but the trailer ain’t pretty.

The film is directed by Michael Polish, known for smaller, quieter films such as Big Sur and The Astronaut Farmer. He’s also Bosworth’s husband, which explains their frequent collaborations.

If you aren’t offended by the presence of the controversial Gibson and Hirsch, Force of Nature hits VOD, Bluray, and DVD on June 30th.

 

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.