.
Armageddon (1998)
Rating: 6
Dir: Michael Bay
.
Main Players: Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Steve Buscemi.
Story: A very big asteroid is in a collision course with the earth. To blow it up would require detonating the nukes 800 ft. below its surface. Enter the oil drillers.
Comment: Willis seem to get the same roles over and over again. Basically, we have John McClane in Die Hard, The Fifth Element, Mercury Rising and now Armageddon. Not that he's bad at it, he's rather convincing as the unlikely and unwilling hero; but he never seems to get anything else. We should see him in a comedy or two nowadays. Remember Moonlighting?
For Bay's third effort, we get the usual cool visuals. This guy LOVES the camera. See the orange-yellow hue, and you know it's Bay. See panning, tilting and tracking done by someone you think is 'high', and you know it's Bay. If you feel like you're on a roller coaster ride that's not scary but pure FUN, you KNOW it's Bay. What distinguishes him from NYPD Blue camera action is that I don't get a headache after 5 minutes watching his work.
But unfortunately, excellent camera work does NOT mean excellent story-telling. The contrived around the world shots to show the impact of the impending doom reveal to us Bay needs some time to mature from the "BOOM, BOOM" films where loudness and style are all that matters to films where story and character are central.
Luckily for us, he seems to be one of the very few action directors who actually care about story and characters. OK, granted the story is full of holes, but the fact that you don't care or don't really notice it proves that this guy knows how to focus your attention on HIS story, or pull the wool over your eyes during his story-telling session. Either way you see it, he is good at what he does.
This story is about heroism. Therefore, someone has to die. Whether or not we CARE when that happens is the yardstick by which the film's effectiveness must be judged. On this count, Bay scores. And you get the bonus of actually liking some of the lesser characters.
I must make mention of Liv Tyler. I first saw her in That Thing You Do and I must admit that I didn't agree with the general view that she's beautiful. But she does look good here. Her character is more of a thread that binds the two leads and her presence is perhaps the sole feminine contribution in this very testosterone movie. With Bay, you can be sure of a few things: Cool visuals, hard rock, intelligent story (by the action movie standard), fast cars, or great fly-bys, and babes. How can you go wrong with that?
Conclusion: A good action movie. Have fun.
Bad Boys : Bay's 1st. film
The Rock : His best.