Subject: Review: Armageddon (1998)

From: "Yen, Homer" <[email-masked]>
Date: 16 Jul 1998 05:53:37 GMT

"Geddon" Less Than Expected
by Homer Yen
(c) 1998

The second movie featuring a big rock from space has hit movie theatres.
But despite the fact that this asteroid is the size of Texas and it's
imminent collision with Mother Earth would be so devastating that not
even bacteria would live, the movie's impact is surprisingly shallow.
Maybe it's because this movie comes only a scant 7 weeks after the
release of "Deep Impact", which had a very similar premise.   Or, maybe
it's because the movie makers tried to make this a fun film, but didn't
realize that rescuing humanity is not a lighthearted matter.  Whatever
the reason, the event that is "Armageddon" fails to live up to its hype.

There are only 18 days to impact when NASA learns of the oncoming
asteroid (their initial clue is a monstrous meteor shower that
pulverizes New York City with an awesome pyrotechnic display).  Pressed
for time and options, their desperate plan to save mankind is to drill a
hole into the core of the asteroid where they will lower and then
detonate a nuclear device.  If all goes well, the asteroid will split
apart and miss the planet entirely.  To accomplish this task, they
summon Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), the world's foremost deep core
driller.  He's the kind of man who only trusts himself.  He closely
guards over his daughter (Liv Tyler) and rejects her wishes to be with
fellow oil driller A.J. (Ben Affleck), who is skilled at drilling, but
takes unnecessary risks without concern for others.  Harry thinks that
she deserves someone better than a roughneck.  A.J. is just one of a
motley crew of roughnecks (all with cool nicknames like Bear, Rockhound,
and Chick) that will accompany Harry and make the dangerous journey into
space.  These guys are truly the wrong stuff and the government
expresses deep concern over mission leader and NASA chief Dan Truman
(Billy Bob Thornton) for endorsing this plan.  But there's no more time,
and there are no other options.

"Armageddon" is actually a pretty nifty piece of summer fare.  It has
lots of nice special effects, but isn't overrun by them.  The meteor
showers are a wondrous spectacle.  Their flight to rendezvous with the
asteroid is also visually impressive.  And the story, for the most part,
finds a nice balance between Stamper as leader of the team and leader of
his family.  Thornton's role is also a nice touch as the quiet hero that
tries to rise above the bureaucracy.  I also like Tyler's understated
courage at a time when the two men that she loves the most may never
return.

However, this film comes across feeling more like a casual buddy movie
rather than a tense thriller.  None of Stamper's crew seemed to
internalize the importance of the mission.  During the journey into
space, I kept waiting for one of them to ask if they could drive the
space shuttle for a couple of million miles.  And for people who are on
an asteroid hurtling towards Earth at 22,000 mph, they looked amazingly
at ease.  Another minus was that scenes on the asteroid moved so fast
that I didn't have time to think.  Camera shots changed so frequently
that the 'moment' couldn't be absorbed.  The asteroid sequence in "Deep
Impact" was far more exciting and better thought out.  "Armageddon" does
have its moments filled with courage, spectacle and awe.  But the
audience just never really has the chance to get involved.

Grade: B-