Misunderstood comedy

Rating: 7/10 (4 March 2007)

I saw this movie in theaters when it first came out. I got the sense that most of the people watching with me were cursing themselves for wasting five bucks and two hours.
I, however, was struggling to contain my laughter at what was one of the best comedies of that summer.
The lines are corny. The people are caricatures. The acting is over-the-top. The plot is full of giant holes and even bigger clichés. And yet, somehow, the people on the screen seem to be taking it all seriously. It's hilarious. The only thing that could possibly make it better would be the MST3K crew... but they'd almost be redundant.
In short: It's so laughably bad, it's actually good.
To make it even better, the action sequences and visual effects (particularly by the standards of the time) are pretty good.
If you're looking for a serious Sci-Fi disaster movie, don't bother.
If you're looking for an overtly funny parody of a Sci-Fi action movie starring Will Smith... Go watch MIB.
If you're looking for more subtle humor in which the entire cast collectively acts as the straight man, spiced with some pretty cool giant explosions, see ID4. And get ready to laugh!