Written by Sam Clark 

Certificate: 15 

Running time: 129 minutes 

Director: Paul Greengrass 

The disaster genre is certainly a mixed kettle of fish in the movie business. One the one hand, films like 2012, Geostorm and Moonfall (I'm trying to think of the stupidest disaster flicks I can possibly think of) and so on exist for pure disposable, trashy and brainless entertainment; I am still a sucker for them, who isn't. But on the other side, you have the likes of Greenland, Deepwater Horizon and now The Lost Bus which I would label as the more ''intelligent'' approach - although they do also enjoy their fare share of green screen. Unlike Greenland and Deepwater Horizon however, The Lost Bus is the kind of disaster you would see in the 70's alongside The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure (the heyday of the genre). Former journalist turned filmmaker Paul Greengrass (the man behind 9/11 thriller United 93, The Bourne Ultimatum and Captain Phillips) returns to our screens with this true story about a devastating wildfire which lay waste to California in 2018, becoming one of the deadliest and most destructive in the state's history. 

Here, Greengrass co -writes alongside Brad Ingelsby. McConaughey stars as Kevin McKay, a bus driver who is battling both martial troubles and rising tensions with his son (played by his son in real life, Levi) and also caring for his sick mother who is also his mother in real life as well - so three generations of McConaughey's star here. America Ferrea plays Mary Ludwig, the teacher at the elementary school whose class Kevin must evacuate to safety.  As was the case with Deepwater Horizon (a fitting companion piece to this), an oil company was to blame. Here, we soon find out that the real cause of the fire was caused by an electrical company who ended up having to pay $13 billion dollars in damages and who were convicted of manslaughter. So, given Greengrass's previous body of films and what his previous occupation was, there are very few who can do real life thrillers like him. 

Some of The Lost Bus came across overly dramatic and schmaltzier in way I was not convinced by, but if you like Deepwater, this will be right up your alley. When most films are dumped onto streaming, sometimes you see them and completely understand the decision. But as it the case here with a film with some pretty impressive and grand spectacle, you are robbed of a theatrical experience. From a popcorn entertainment perspective, this is one of Greengrass's ''sillier'' films, having done very grounded and serious thrillers in the past such as United 93. You get the sense he has put his feet up with this one, but given how Captain Phillips is one of my favourite films of all time (including my favourite ending of all time that is still a knockout to this very day), he can do as he pleases.

But even when it comes time to relish in visual effects, it still manages to feel grounded and serious. I also wondered throughout this what Peter Berg (who made Deepwater) would've made of this as he also dabbles in the same type of genre as well. At the end of the day, The Lost Bus is conventional, box ticking stuff. The flawed and broken character with a fractured relationship with his family whose the only one who can save the day has been done to death. Not only is everything thrown at the wall from an action standpoint, but it does also have a few philosophical messages (that are far from subtle) thrown in there for good measure that might cause some eyes to roll. For what it is, it's 2 hours worth of efficient enough entertainment.

The Lost Bus is on Apple TV Plus now