Cheerful, cornball heroics are its saving grace

Rating: 7/10 (27 October 2013)

If the gatekeepers of pop culture cool here on the inter-webs are to be believed, Michael Bay's 'Armageddon' is the most despised mega-hit of all-time. However, I'm less and less convinced that all of the vitriol aimed against it is sincere. Afterall, how could a movie that so many people claim to hate continue to be in heavy rotation on TV fifteen years after its release? And if its nothing more than a bunch of "jingoistic" flag waving, why did it make so much money outside of the United States? It doesn't add up.
'Armageddon' is corny, it ignores logic and thumbs its nose at the basic laws of physics, but it does so solely to tell a rousing story of cheerful heroics and old fashioned derring-do. And it does it all with such sincerity that I find it impossible to have any hard feelings towards it.
'Armageddon' isn't trying to be art, it's trying to be entertainment. Mission accomplished.