'Greenland 2: Migration' Review: Gerard Butler Should’ve Stayed in the Shelter

Gerard Butler is one of the few movie stars left keeping the B-movie alive. Nearly every year, we're treated to a new flick(s) starring our favorite Scottish action hero. Some make for very memorable guilty pleasures, such as the Den of Thieves and Has Fallen movies, while others are Geostorm. The first Greenland film came out all the way back in late 2020 and proved to be a more than enjoyable movie. It shed a lot of the goofiness we usually expect from a Butler vehicle, but took the end-of-the-world concept, and put your regular, normal family at the center of the chaos. It worked surprisingly well, proving itself to be a tense, gripping, and immensely entertaining flick. It was also the kind of Butler film that didn't demand a sequel. After all, it all ended with the main family reaching the shelter in Greenland as almost all of humanity was wiped out.

Yet, a little over five years later, director Ric Roman Waugh and Butler have reunited to bring us a sequel, Greenland 2: Migration. This time, the film is doing away with the Roland Emmerich influences and instead serves as a post-apocalyptic road movie, somewhat similar to that of The Road. It's also a major downer. And while yes, the first movie was a downer as well, there was still a lot of excitement, which isn't as present this time around.

What Is 'Greenland 2: Migration' About?

Five years after a comet has wiped out much of the planet and its resources, John Garrity (Butler), his wife Allison (Morena Baccarin), and his now teenage son Nathan (Roman Griffin Davis) are still living inside a bunker in Greenland. John finds himself frequently venturing outside into the plagued Earth, scavenging for supplies, which has taken a toll on his health. Allison is trying her best to keep herself together, but is constantly at odds with the overseers in the bunker. While Nathan has fallen under a spell of depression, yearning to escape into a life outside the bunker.

The real "Migration" of Greenland 2 kicks off when a radiation storm strikes Greenland, and as a result, the bunker implodes, forcing the Garritys to flee. After surviving a dangerous journey across the Atlantic on a lifeboat, the family arrives in war-torn Europe, where the remaining survivors are in the midst of a civil war. At the encouragement of scientist Dr. Casey Amina (Amber Rose Revah), the Garritys decide to make the trek to find "the Crater," where clean air and water are still available and plentiful. Their journey proves itself to be perilous as they encounter raiders, militia, freak meteor showers, and natural disasters along the way.

'Greenland 2: Migration' Is Taking Itself Far Too Seriously

When you see a Gerard Butler movie, especially one being released in January, you expect some good trashy fun. When given the right kind of material, Butler can be a magnificent actor. Just look at the criminally underrated Chasing Mavericks or, of course, his delightfully hammy turn as Big Nick in both Den of Thieves. In Greenland 2: Migration, Butler is sulking around and being depressed for the entire runtime. He's not in the frantic rush to save his family like he was in the first movie; he's not being the douchey bad cop like he was in Den of Thieves, or the badass Spartan from 300. He's just sad for the entire runtime.

Migration wants to tackle some current affairs, including immigration and borders. At the same time, the movie doesn't have anything interesting to say about any of this. It's just there as fodder to remind you, "Yeah, the world is fucked up." Obviously, nobody is going into this sequel expecting a big message; you just want to see Butler and his family survive. At the same time, the movie presents these themes and then does absolutely nothing with them except to serve as a backdrop for an action setpiece.

It's admirable that Waugh, Butler, and screenwriters Chris Sparling and Mitchell LaFortune wanted to do something completely different for this sequel, but at times, it feels like they were given studio notes to make it more like the original. Characters are spontaneously killed by crashing asteroids, disasters strike left and right, and almost everywhere they go, the Garritys are about to be killed. Even when they are first meeting new allies, they are almost shot and killed with a shotgun. It's too much of a downer that even when the movie tries to offer glimmers of hope, it never feels fully earned.

'Greenland 2: Migration' Works Best as a Family Story

Image via Lionsgate

Even amidst all the grimness and often dull nature of Greenland 2: Migration, the movie still somehow manages to make you care about what's going to happen, and that's all because of how the Garrity family is portrayed. Once more, they aren't portrayed as some sort of badass action-hero family with sick fighting skills. They are just regular people, facing some extraordinarily tense and tough situations. Butler and Baccarin have a natural chemistry with one another. You can clearly tell just how much John and Allison care for one another. Davis' Nathan is never made out to become some sort of post-apocalyptic warrior, either. He behaves as you would expect most 16-year-olds to act. It's incredibly refreshing, and it really does make you concerned about these characters, especially with how many obstacles the movie is hurdling at them left and right.

While the first movie had a fairly impressive supporting cast of suburbanites also struggling to survive, the Garritys are always at the center of the story of the sequel. Almost every other person they encounter is either killed or makes some kind of existential sacrifice, accepting their grim fate.

Greenland 2: Migration is a sequel that nobody was asking for or clamoring for. There's not much more you can do with this story, and upon watching the movie, you can clearly tell they were reaching with this one. At the same time, it could have been far, far worse. For all of its dourness, there is still a bit of entertainment to be found. It's just too bad the film is taking itself far too seriously. How do you expect us not to laugh when a character is randomly blown up with mediocre CGI?

Greenland 2: Migration is now playing in theaters.

Release Date January 9, 2026

Runtime 98 Minutes

Director Ric Roman Waugh

Writers Chris Sparling, Mitchell LaFortune

Producers Basil Iwanyk, Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, John Zois, Sebastien Raybaud, Brendon Boyea

Pros & Cons

• Much like its predecessor, Greenland 2 does a great job at making you really care about the Garrety family.
• Butler, Baccarin, and Davis turn in some solid performances.

• The film is just too dour, and never has enough thrills to warrant the tone.
• The action feels shoehorned in with messy CGI.
• The movie feels like its at the cusp of having some greater message, but never does.