Continental Split

I didn't expect anything good about this movie when I started watching because it is an Asylum prodution. Most of the movie goes exactly how I expected: Bad to mediocre CGI, bad to good acting (usually Asylum productions have leads that can act and supporting characters that can't) bad screenplay, uninteresting plot that usually has two main plotlines: a personal one (family drama) and a threat that the protagonists must face and resolve and of course the government doing government stuff, meaning opposing the protagonists by being completely stupid. This is exactly how this movie goes. What surprised me was that in the last 20 minutes I actually cared for the protagonists a little and wanted to see them succeed. I would give this movie a 2 but since it made me care I give it a 4. It also made me laugh. The protagonists used various CGI helicopters and the earthquake chased them and wherever they would put a sensor the earthquake would attack and knock it over and they would have to retrieve it and place it elsewhere.

No one from SEMO would mispronounce the names of the towns. Yawn.

The town is New Madrid. It's not in Spain. It's in Missouri.

As a native Sikestonian, learn the local language before using it.

Sikeston or New Madrid aren't cities. They are just towns. The cities in Missouri are Springfield, Saint Louis and Kansas City.

The New Madrid fault line has a rich history. No mention of it. The proposed epicenters are well known.

The local accent usage is a side bar of possible update as well.

Make it believable. The Mississippi River is a huge factor in the impending quake. And it is a deep, swift and demanding river. It is no casual kayak ride. Barge workers risk their lives daily to work on it.

It's obvious whomever directed this had no accurate knowledge of the area or the situations that are prevalent and current. Someone should have spoken to the mayor's office, since it is mentioned in the movie and gotten relevant facts. They are always ready and willing to help if a movie is going to be made representing our area.

Well, when you put the words disaster movie and The Asylum together in the same sentence, then your first thought isn't going to be 'stellar entertainment'. Yet, I still opted to keep on watching "Continental Split" even after the opening logo displaying The Asylum.

And yeah, "Continental Split" is every bit as generic, laughable and low budget as you would expect it to be. Just like the majority of disaster movies out there actually.

The storyline that writers Gil Luna and Joe Roche put together was textbook material straight out of the How-To-Make-A-Disaster-Movie-For-Dummies handbook. The movie is one cliché after another, and the writers didn't conjure up anything grand or overly thrilling. "Continental Split" is one of those everything that nature has to throw at you happens around a small groups of protagonists, and yet they emerge victorious in the end. And you don't even believe for a second that the main characters were in any danger. So yeah, the writers definitely dropped the ball on this one.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. And while they had put together a fair cast ensemble, the acting performances were fair, despite the fact that the script and storyline was as generic and predictable as it could get.

Visually then this 2024 movie from director Nick Lyon is an archetypical disaster movie from The Asylum, complete with very questionable CGI effects that looks like they somehow managed to escape the 1990s.

It is rather amazing that a movie like this was birthed in 2024.

I managed to sit through the entire 88 minute runtime, but weren't particularly impressed or entertained. Yeah, some of us suffered through this ordeal so you don't have to; you're very welcome.

My rating of director Nick Lyon's 2024 movie "Continental Split" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars.

As another Missourian, and someone who's traveled, please learn how the locals pronounce the town at least. It's like how Kansans know the river is pronounced "Ar-kan-zis" when it's within our borders, but our local news guy, who's been here for decades, still calls the town south of Wichita "Ar-kan-saw City."

Low budget, special effects are not that special. And the plot is literally the same as in the movie Twister. Same sorta-divorced couple, who used to work together, suddenly working together again on an invention to help predict earthquakes. Only difference is she's supposed to be getting married instead of him and they have 2 grown children.

Why the choice of little ol Sikeston? The only thing that I have seen that relates to the area is the shots of Jefferson City. Outside of that, the filming locations weren't in the areas talked about. At some point they end up in Nashville? No no no. They make Jefferson City seem REALLY close, it isn't. The CGI is cringe worthy at best. The "close calls" are even terrible. The mispronunciation of the local names was even worse. The whole movie was unrealistic.

Final assessment, do your job on making sure that homework is done to not make yourself look like a fool. Make sure you include areas in your filmmaking that are relevant to your production. And for the love of god and all that is holy and sacred, pronounce the names properly. Bonus: Better CGI/Green Screen would be fantastic.