Preposterous...but surprisingly thrilling

Rating: Null/10 (19 November 2010)

An asteroid the size of Texas is on its way to Earth, and when it impacts in eighteen days, it will be the end of life as we know it. A team of professional oil drillers are put through NASA training as the first step of an elaborate plan to a) fly up and land on the asteroid b) drill an 800 foot hole and c) stuff it with enough dynamite to blow it before it enters the atmosphere.
As much as we all love to hate Michael Bay, he has occasionally gotten some things right. Armageddon as dumb as it is, is surprisingly exciting. It's been a while since I've seen it, and while I won't argue that it's great, it's not so easy to forget. When I was younger I was a fan of disaster movies. They prove popular at the box office but most of them don't shine for with the critics. Armaggedon is not for intelligent viewers....and I am an intelligent viewer.
One of the movies most distinctive items, is the result of a collaboration between the art and effects departments. As you comb the rugged surface of the asteroid (sometiems on foot, sometimes on rover) you feel like you are in the underworld. There is something kind of romantic or ethereal about Armageddon's primeval appearance.
One of the advantages (for the viewer) of being in space I suppose is that it forces Michael Bay to cut down on explosions (seeing as there is no air in a vacuum for combustion). It means that him and screen writer J.J. Abrahams must turn to more effective devices for generating adrenaline. Michael Bay in Armageddon almost gets away with being non-gratuitous, but not quite. There is a teaser sequence in the first act where New York gets bombarded by a smaller meteor shower which as a plot element serves no function other than giving scientists the hint that something bigger is on the way. He should have let the movie build towards its spectacle rather than rush to it.
Armageddon for the most part does what it sets out to do. For that it deserves some credit. Most of the people you go to will probably bash it, but I can certainly recommend it on the grounds of an adrenaline rush (just don't watch it on your Ipod)