Get a Piece of the Rock

Rating: 5/10 (11 July 2005)

Bruce Willis leads his men, a group of eccentric guys that have drilled for him all over the world, into space when NASA calls for help when news of a giant meteor coming toward the Earth hits. Director Micahel Bay does a decent job with this disaster/end of the world flick, but let's be honest here. This is no great film. It has lots of action, weird, one-dimensional characters quipping humourless one-liners, and a plot with little gravity toward any kind of reality. It is a very entertaining film yet does not compel like something like Independence Day or The Day After Tomorrow. I even enjoyed The Core more(no pun intended). Willis gives his action hero performance of little depth and Ben Affleck - well, the less said the better. Liv Tyler is nothing more than scenery, and the rest of the cast is pretty much one stereotypical character after another: the guy on the bike, the annoying man who talks all the time, etc... The guys playing these roles are fun to a degree. I enjoyed seeing Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Steve Buschemi, and all the rest. But none of them are real at all. The only performer I actually thought brought a little credibility to his role was Billy Bob Thornton as a head at Nasa who had a leg infirmity not allowing him to go on the mission. Bay does have some wonderful special effects of cities being destroyed and the meteor itself is quite impressive. And the ending - though coming right at you straight on does have some poignancy to it and at the same time a bit of ridiculousness as well. I am not giving Armageddon a bad review but it is an average, action film at best.