Panique sur Seattle

There are so many disaster movies out there, both good, bad and mediocre, that it takes some effort to say this falls squarely in to the 'don't bother' category...

As a TV movie Seattle Superstorm doesn't start off well with its rather misleading title - a few dark clouds and a bit of wind does not make a Super-storm. Follow this up with dodgy acting, iffy dialogue, middle of the road effects,and worst of all terrible storyline and writing, and what you have is a disaster movie as a package and not just a genre.

Character wise I didn't mind 'dad/scientist' Tom (Esai Morales) and could tolerate 'mom/Navy Lt' Emma (Ona Grauer) (although a Lt as the highest Military adviser?) however I would happily put their kids up for adoption as both 'gearhead' Wyatt (Jared Abrahamsom) and 'ecochick' Chloe (MacKenzie Porter) are eternally grating in their sinicism and petty battles. Of course two movie teenagers whose parents are due to remarry will rarely be best buddies (unless they are too close!),however this pair should be hidden in a dark seller with boxing gloves to sort out their differences.

So what about the story? Well I for one am glad the US military will happily shoot down UFOs with apparently knowing nothing more than it was plotted by a bored tech operator in the standard 'Artic station'. And aren't we glad that the debris lands within yards of the nations disaster management officials...who just happen to be in Seattle(or Vancouver!?!..a dodgy CGI needle does not make a city!).

The result is an increasingly dangerous superstorm that threatens to destroy the world in 4 weeks which gives the perfect excuse for dodgy science to win the day - but not before the requisite near death experiences of the primary characters.

And this is what annoys me the most. In the mighty USA, so often gloating of their superiority in overcoming all threats its the same four dysfunctional family members who provide much of the knowledge and impetus in saving the world, not because its a TV movie and so you need a cheap and cheerful set of heros but seemingly because the government officials are ruled by a jerk, the armed forces are nonexistent after the initial actions, the emergency departments are awol, and even the local Seattle folks are busy just hiding in a dark corner.

I seem to have fallen asleep during the explanation of the 'alien' artifacts so no spoilers other than saying what a surprise that the Russian chief scientist just happens to wander in to the exact same Seattle Lab that the protagonists are working in at the perfect moment to give detail background to the effects and the results. Maybe the security also fell asleep...?

Overall I was pleasantly surprised - not by the movie as it was pants,but that I made it through to the end considering it wasn't even 'so bad its good' because it's really not.

I've seen worse effects, and not all the acting was terrible...and that's about it for good points. The rest of the points were negatives and the score reflects it...

3/10...avoid

Why is it always California or Washington State ? Why don't aliens, space ships, superstorms never land or occur in Namibia or the Gobi desert for example, or even Massachusetts ??

The script writer and producers are so blinkered to have us believe that a woman, a computer and a few minions can save America (and the world !) ?

No one even goes to a toilet or has a meal throughout this fantasy tale except for an old man pointing a Geiger counter in all directions ... What a waste of time and money this painful-to-watch film is , and IMDB hasn't even mentioned whether the six producers got their money back or not !

As I've said many times before, I have made no secret of disliking a vast majority of SyFy's output. A couple are tolerable without ever being great, but a lot of them are either lame or bottom-of-the-barrel. As bad as they are, there's something about their awfulness that not only is compulsive but at times can amuse me. From reading the premise, which is the sort of nothing-new, silly sort of premise, I wasn't expecting much, but Seattle Superstorm actually was worse than I expected. It, even for a low budget TV movie, is a poorly made movie, with editing so slapdash it made my head hurt and special effects that are among the most cheap-looking and cheesily used of any effects in a SyFy movie since Titanic II. The dialogue is incredibly insipid, especially about when they are talking about who is going into the tank to release the water, and the story is dull and predictable with the positioning of the manual valve in a position where anybody about to open it would die was beyond stupid. I got a good laugh with the lightning obliteration scene, but that was it. The characters are among SyFy's most irritating and stereotypical, and the acting is very poor, Esai Morales is okay, but everybody else is just bad especially the 16 year old girl who not just once but twice comes up with a save the world solution and the grandfather who acts like he is in a different film altogether.

All in all, SyFy have done worse than Seattle Superstorm, but it is still a train wreck. 1/10 Bethany Cox

So predictable, c movie at best, wasted hour and a half watching this tripe!

During the opening credits, really bad weather wrecks havoc in Seattle, Washington. This turns out to be footage from later in the film. "Nine hours earlier," an alert arctic outpost notices an "unidentified aerial phenomenon" in the Pacific Ocean. This very wicked storm's destination is Seattle. Folks at the "Disaster Management Agency" (DMA) can't figure out why this storm is so destructive. They have several theories about its origin. Some think it may be alien. Working at the DMA are space scientist Esai Morales (as Tom) and disaster manager Ona Grauer (as Emma)...

Mr. Morales has just moved to Seattle and is planning to marry Ms. Grauer. She tells him they will have to reconsider because their school-aged children don't get along. Morales' son Jared Abrahamson (as Wyatt) and Grauer's daughter MacKenzie Porter (as Chloe) instantly dislike each other. This stormy relationship parallels the titular "Seattle Superstorm". It's a typical, predictable TV movie. Events thrust the four characters into situations where they have an opportunity to bond. Meanwhile, the storm is threatening to destroy everyone and everything in range of the cameras.

**** Seattle Superstorm (3/31/12) Jason Bourque ~ Esai Morales, Ona Grauer, Jared Abrahamson, MacKenzie Porter