Armageddon Movie Review

Armageddon (1998)

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Written by: Jonathan Hensleigh and J.J. Abrams (screenplay), Tony Gilroy and Shane Salerno (adaptation), Robert Roy Pool and Jonathan Hensleigh (story)
Directed by: Michael Bay
Starring: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, Keith David, Steve Buscemi, William Fichtner, Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jason Isaacs
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
After discovering that an asteroid the size of Texas will impact Earth in less than a month, NASA recruits a misfit team of deep-core drillers to save the planet.

Verdict
This is so over the top it stretches belief, and that's not even getting into the science. It wavers between blowing up everything on screen and manufacturing stakes to get the maximum amount of drama out of characters. This is an overblown action movie that attempts to hide the flaws with explosions. It doesn't work, but the excesses of the movie do manage to provide some entertainment. If you want a movie that focuses on explosions to the detriment of everything else, that's where this movie excels. It's more of an exhibition than a narrative.
It depends.

Review
It's the movie where NASA decided it's easier to train deep-core oil drillers to be astronauts than it was to trains astronauts how to drill. So much of this movie is comical as it tries to force the plot into dramatic stakes.

The introduction alludes to the meteor that killed the dinosaurs. Knowing the plot, it's not too subtle. This was Michael Bay's follow up to The Rock (1996). If you didn't know this was a Michael Bay movie, a few elements like the several explosions just a few minutes after this begins will make it clear. These small meteors are nothing to what's coming. It's a "global killer" and it's going to hit Earth in eighteen days.

Then we're introduced to a group of roughnecks on an oil derrick. A.J. (Ben Affleck) spent the night with Grace (Liv Tyler) who happens to be Harry's (Bruce Willis) daughter. I don't know how she even got onto the derrick since it's in the ocean. Harry own the drilling outfit and isn't happy about that. The reason we're introduced to these drillers is because NASA can't just bomb this meteor. They need to drill into the center and plant a nuclear bomb inside.

Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck play Harry, A.J.

The astronauts can't figure out how to drill. That's when NASA calls in Harry and his team to set them straight. Harry reveals that drilling is a science. Not just anyone can do it, not even highly trained astronauts. With time being short, the drillers are approved for space flight despite failing the psychological tests. NASA is sending a bunch of cowboys into space, men that shouldn't go, to save the world. It's a comical premise with huge stakes. The fate of the world rests on this unlikely group of guys. Though they are all leaving family behind, unsure if they'll make it back. It's a huge sacrifice and a big hero moment.

The mission is a case of everything that can go wrong will. When it does, expect explosions. Everything in this movie is primed to explode. It can be melodramatic to say the least. Everything gets damaged, shuttles crash, and then there's the timeline of completing the mission before they reach the zero barrier where even if they detonate the bomb the meteor will be too close to Earth to make a difference. While it's over the top, that also propels this to blockbuster status. Everything about this movie is huge with life and death stakes.

Of course it comes down to the wire on drilling a hole in the meteor. When that stumbles the military back on Earth want to detonate the bomb prematurely as a last ditch effort despite knowing it won't work and will kill the crew. There's no time to consider pointless exercises. This movie is about action first and asking questions later. Then there's so many explosions and so much yelling.

Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck play Grace, A.J.

As previously established, Harry has a tense relationship with A.J. as he's dating Grace. In training A.J. stated he knew more about the drill than the NASA computer en route to failing a training exercise. Now A.J. is drilling again on the meteor, begging Harry to trust his judgement. A.J. succeeds, but of course the bomb's remote detonator is damaged, meaning one of the guys must stay behind to save Earth and trigger detonation. A.J. draws the short straw and Harry accompanies him down to the blast zone. Harry disconnects A.J.'s air hose, forcing him back into the shuttle. Harry will sacrifice himself. He says all of the things he should have said before, but this movie likes to wring the maximum amount of drama out of every moment so Harry tells A.J. he's like a son even though he never treated him as such.

This entire movie relies on being a spectacle, presenting this larger than life adventure. That almost works as long as you don't put much thought into the story. As a spectacle it's great. As a logical narrative it possesses more than a few shortcomings.