The return of the undead—Don’t Look Up as the reincarnation of the 1970s disaster movie
Don’t Look Up is the number one hit on Netflix at the moment, despite mediocre-to-bad reviews. It’s a one-joke movie—people remain petty and self-absorbed in the face of human extinction—that cannot support its 138 minute run-time (maybe a good 3 minute SNL skit) despite valiant efforts from an ensemble cast of well-known actors.
What’s more interesting than the movie itself is that it’s a throwback to 1970s disaster movies. Of course, both natural and human-caused disasters are Hollywood staples in all eras, but the 1970s versions—beginning with Airport in 1970 and ending with Airplane in 1980—were distinguished by deep misanthropic pessimism. The disasters are always caused by a human villain, abetted by weak and dishonest officials. Ensemble casts of well-known actors play unlikeable victims, lying and bickering as the scenery crashes around them. The imminent disaster begins to seem like a salutary cleansing.
