Run For Your Lives! It's Another Mammoth Disaster Film--and Fun!

Rating: 7/10 (7 April 2013)

I read in one review of this film that only a stoned teenager could have enjoyed this film. Being neither, I take exception, realizing first of all that this is not Oscar bait--it's a mammoth disaster film, and everyone who plans to see it knows they are going to see things destroyed, the planet on the edge of collapse--and this film does a bang-up job of showing that.
Of course the plot is cheesy--ever seen Earthquake or The Towering Inferno? Of course the characters are cardboard cutouts--this isn't African Queen or Brokeback Mountain--it's a Roland Emmerich film--remember Independence Day? Things are going to get blown up!!! The disaster film fan is given the promise, as the special effects in this fast-paced adventure are epic: the twisters through LA are spectacular effects, and the tidal washes through great cities are amazing work. Why are Quaid and Gyllenhall and Rossum in this? How about big paychecks? It's a disaster movie--you don't get on a roller coaster to cruise along as if you were in a new BMV. I had a good, zippy ride and look forward to another Saturday afternoon when I need a repeat fix--and a double order of buttered popcorn!