Armageddon Review
by Chad Polenz (ChadPolenz AT aol DOT com)July 15th, 1998
Armageddon
Chad'z rating: **1/2 (out of 4 = okay/average)
1998, PG-13, 150 minutes [2 hours, 30 minutes]
[thriller/action]
starring: Bruce Willis (Harry Stamper), Ben Affleck (A.J. Frost), Billy Bob Thorton (Dan Truman), Liv Tyler (Grace Stamper); written by Jonathan Hensleigh, Robert Roy Pool, Tony Gilroy, Shane Salerno, J.J. Abrams; produced by Michael Bay, Jerry Bruckheimer, Gale Anne Hurd; directed by Michael Bay.
Seen July 4, 1998 at 8:15 p.m. at Crossgates Cinema 18 (Albany, NY), theater #1, by myself using Hoyt's cinema cash. [Theater rating: ****: excellent, sound, picture, and seats]
The "event movie" industry is quickly becoming one of the most ruthless forms of competition in the world, rivaling even the Cold War at its peak. Every major Hollywood studio is out to one-up the other by spending as much money as possible with as little effort at intelligence as possible. It's practically a mathematical formula and "Armageddon" culminates this philosophy in nearly every frame of film. It's everything a mega blockbuster should be - full of action, adventure, cliffhangers, romance, comedy, and outstanding special effects, as to cram in everything possible and yet still turns out to be hollow.
Getting an audience's attention right from the beginning plays a major role in how today's films work. We want to have something exciting to watch, not a slow build-up of a story (God forbid!), and this film plays right into the mainstream's hands. The opening sequence uses mystery, comedy, and action simultaneously to give a sneak preview of the level of the in-your-face energy the film has. Technically, it serves no purpose other than to showcase the special effects and lay the basic structure for the film's simple plot, but it's also symbolic of the way in which the film works. We're introduced to some generic characters who are quickly thrown into a fantastic situation that could only happen in a movie, and somehow comedy and suspense come into play. Sure it's fun to watch at the time, but in retrospect, it's almost insulting to realize how little thought was put into something so extraordinary.
After a sensational teaser, the film switches gears a bit to concentrate on an attempt at backstory. The entire first act flies by as all the major characters and plot devices are unfolded. An asteroid the size of Texas is headed for Earth, and its fragments alone have done more damage than most wars might. This is a simple conflict and surprisingly enough, allows for many sub-plots to push and pull the characters and the story in general. Lots of scientific and military jargon is spat out at a lightning-fast pace to create for a shroud of plausibility. Hollywood doesn't know the meaning of "science fiction" and the way in which the fantastic is justified is more interesting than the justification itself. For example, the imagery of the government's space and military programs is captivating because it's so advanced in a modern way (the barrage of TV screens, the Internet, cellular phones, and every other form of hip, instant communication).
In fact, the film deserves credit for its initial sense of realism, had it stuck with it throughout, it might have worked as a believable account of man's greatest victory over nature. But this isn't a philosophical picture by any means, it's supposed to be a thrill ride and it does deliver on that promise. The film's hook is truly its biggest flaw, but if the Armageddon is truly impending, we're going to have to make sure it's countered by the most fun-to-watch characters, not ones that might actually be qualified.
Dan Truman (Thorton), one of the execs at NASA and advisor to the president realizes in order to stop the asteroid it must be blown up from within, which would require the best drillers in the world. Of course those people would also have to be the most interesting, diverse group of characters in the world, whom we meet early on. Bruce Willis stars as Harry Stamper, a third generation oil driller with just the right amount of muscle, charm, and wit a character like this would have. He's just fired his right-hand man A.J. (Affleck) for sleeping with his daughter Grace (Tyler), and is approached by the Pentagon to lead a team to the asteroid to drill it and blow it up. Of course, with as much money, power, and intellect the government has, they've stolen Stamper's idea for a revolutionary drill and can't figure out how to make it work. Long story short, Stamper agrees to help them out, but only if his crew come along to help. Guess what kind of people make up Stamper's crew?
This movie comes to us by some of the people behind "Aliens," "The Rock," and "Con Air," and considering those films, it's no surprise the characters are of the intelligence-light, brawn and rowdiness-heavy sort. They're the last people that should be in charge of saving the world, but that makes them perfect characters for a film like this. They exist for comic relief and an attempt at humanism, and for the most part it works, but the reasoning behind it is still clear as day. They're cardboard cut-outs, which most films like this use, but why there's not enough satire and sense of lightheartedness to not take them seriously. The romantic sub-plot between A.J. and Grace is milked for all its worth and serves mostly as an excuse to photograph Tyler's face at every dramatic angle (and situation) possible, while the dialogue between her and Affleck is quite melodramatic. I'm not even going to get into the supporting characters' personal lives.
The first hour of the film has a breezy, but shifty tone to it. One minute the impending doom is played for intensity, the next minute the interaction between Stamper and his crew is played for laughs, and then the romance between A.J. and Grace is played for sap. All of it is watchable and the intense aspects succeed for the most part, but the pacing a bit slow. Once the crew begins training and finally embarks upon their mission is when things really begin to heat up, which is the primary reason the film exists.
Action done correctly can be one of the most sensational experiences, and the filmmakers know how to manipulate the audience in this respect. The direction balances the special effects with the events taking place, making for genuine suspense and excitement. The art and production design give the settings a real sense of depth, space, and detail which helps counter some of the wacky plotlines. The hyper editing works with the direction to give the film a raw intensity, but often induces vertigo and seems like a cop-out for lack of script ideas.
There's no lack of action at all here, but what prevents the film from taking advantage of its energy is the screenplay itself. Cliffhangers and other major conflicts constantly crop up and compound upon each other, but once they start happening back-to-back (about every two minutes), the level of predictably skyrockets. At nine screenwriters (five credited, four uncredited), the film is clearly over-written which might have been saved had 20 or 30 minutes of the middle and last acts been cut. There's just too much action without reaction here. As the film nears its end it's easy to forgot what the point of the original mission was.
Still, "Armageddon" is not without its accolades. The non-stop action is never boring and the effects are mind-blowing, which makes it work at least as eye candy, but as tasty as candy is, it's not very good for you.
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(C) 1998 Chad Polenz
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
