Volcano
2.5/4
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, Don Cheadle, Gaby Hoffman, Jacqueline Kim
Rated PG-13 for Intense Depiction of Urban Disaster and Related Injuries
In the late 90's, disaster movies were all the rage. Arguably starting with Roland Emmerich's "Independence Day," the role that made Will Smith a megastar, violence and destruction on a massive scale became common place from May to August each year. 1997 featured two films where the characters faced off against a volcano, but ironically, the one that was released in February ("Dante's Peak") is the better film. "Volcano" has its pleasures, certainly, but overall the Pierce Brosnan picture is more fun.
It's early in the A.M., and people in Los Angeles are just starting out their days when a minor earthquake hits. For Los Angeles, this sort of thing is old hat ("I hate it when that happens," a nurse says after having crawled under a stretcher). But it is not any normal quake. Mike Roark (Jones), is the head of the Office of Emergency Management, barges into the office to take charge. He's supposed to be on vacation, but he wouldn't be played by Tommy Lee Jones if he was a pushover. Meanwhile, seven service workers are killed by a steam rupture underground. Geologist Amy Barnes (Heche) is convinced that there is something else going on, and intends to investigate. Of course, what they don't know (but the audience does), is that there is a volcano about to erupt in the middle of downtown.
When the film sticks to action scenes and special effects, the film is on solid ground. Character development and dialogue are a different story. Just about everyone except Mike or Amy is a complete moron straight out of a cheesy horror movie. It makes you almost root for the volcano so they can't pass on their genes. By far the dumbest character is Mike's daughter Kelly (Hoffman). Gaby Hoffman is a good actress, but there's not much that she can do with a character so obviously lacking in brain cells. She is in this film solely so she can get into danger and Mike or someone else will have to rescue her.
Tommy Lee Jones does not have a lot of range as an actor. He can really only play variations on his trademark crotchety jerk that we begrudgingly like. The role of Mike Roark calls for just those qualities, and he delivers. His co-star Anne Heche, is much more lively and fun (and has a terrific one-liner early on in the film), but she's stuck playing second fiddle to Jones. Don Cheadle and John Carroll Lynch are on hand providing solid support as comic/melodramatic relief. Also worth mentioning is Jacqueline Kim, who plays a tough and tenacious doctor. She's quite good.
When it first came out, "Volcano's" special effects impressed me (maybe that's because I was a little kid at the time), but now, they seem a little weak. Director Mick Jackson lacks the true imagination to give the film the epic scope that it deserves. The film is in a way like "Contagion" in the way that it's about what would happen if a volcano erupted in downtown L.A.
I'm tempted to recommend it, but the bottom line is that there are other, better choices for movies out there, naed
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, Don Cheadle, Gaby Hoffman, Jacqueline Kim
Rated PG-13 for Intense Depiction of Urban Disaster and Related Injuries
In the late 90's, disaster movies were all the rage. Arguably starting with Roland Emmerich's "Independence Day," the role that made Will Smith a megastar, violence and destruction on a massive scale became common place from May to August each year. 1997 featured two films where the characters faced off against a volcano, but ironically, the one that was released in February ("Dante's Peak") is the better film. "Volcano" has its pleasures, certainly, but overall the Pierce Brosnan picture is more fun.
It's early in the A.M., and people in Los Angeles are just starting out their days when a minor earthquake hits. For Los Angeles, this sort of thing is old hat ("I hate it when that happens," a nurse says after having crawled under a stretcher). But it is not any normal quake. Mike Roark (Jones), is the head of the Office of Emergency Management, barges into the office to take charge. He's supposed to be on vacation, but he wouldn't be played by Tommy Lee Jones if he was a pushover. Meanwhile, seven service workers are killed by a steam rupture underground. Geologist Amy Barnes (Heche) is convinced that there is something else going on, and intends to investigate. Of course, what they don't know (but the audience does), is that there is a volcano about to erupt in the middle of downtown.
When the film sticks to action scenes and special effects, the film is on solid ground. Character development and dialogue are a different story. Just about everyone except Mike or Amy is a complete moron straight out of a cheesy horror movie. It makes you almost root for the volcano so they can't pass on their genes. By far the dumbest character is Mike's daughter Kelly (Hoffman). Gaby Hoffman is a good actress, but there's not much that she can do with a character so obviously lacking in brain cells. She is in this film solely so she can get into danger and Mike or someone else will have to rescue her.
Tommy Lee Jones does not have a lot of range as an actor. He can really only play variations on his trademark crotchety jerk that we begrudgingly like. The role of Mike Roark calls for just those qualities, and he delivers. His co-star Anne Heche, is much more lively and fun (and has a terrific one-liner early on in the film), but she's stuck playing second fiddle to Jones. Don Cheadle and John Carroll Lynch are on hand providing solid support as comic/melodramatic relief. Also worth mentioning is Jacqueline Kim, who plays a tough and tenacious doctor. She's quite good.
When it first came out, "Volcano's" special effects impressed me (maybe that's because I was a little kid at the time), but now, they seem a little weak. Director Mick Jackson lacks the true imagination to give the film the epic scope that it deserves. The film is in a way like "Contagion" in the way that it's about what would happen if a volcano erupted in downtown L.A.
I'm tempted to recommend it, but the bottom line is that there are other, better choices for movies out there, naed
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