Volcano (Wide Screen) > Reviews > It blew up on itself

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Indifferent to it
Story	Very weak
Characters / Performances	Weak
Special Effects	Standard
Soundtrack	Unmemorable

Advantages:	Reasonable special effects, Tommy Lee Jones
Disadvantages:	Weak plot, poor characters

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Mike Roark (Tommy Lee Jones) is about to spend some quality time with his daughter (Gabby Hoffman), when a small tremor forces him to return to work as the head of Emergency Management in Los Angeles. Shortly afterwards, some city workers are mysteriously burned to death whilst working in one of the city's many underground tunnels. As Roark investigates, he realises that something is not right and calls on the expert advice of geologist Dr. Amy Barnes (Anne Heche) to try to work out what is going on. Barnes and Roark realise that all the events are being caused by volcanic activity going on underneath Los Angeles. Before they can convince the people in charge of Los Angeles, a local attraction explodes with a sea of lava which starts flowing through the streets, destroying everything in its way. It's up to Roark to find a way of stopping the river of lava and all the destruction.

This could have been a semi decent disaster movie, but unfortunately it relies on the special effects to try and keep you entertained. The storyline is weak and totally unbelievable as the actual possibility of a Volcano forming in Los Angeles is impossible due to the geographical location.

The main star of the film is Tommy Lee Jones, who plays a stereo typical hero who has to save the day, even though no one would listen to him. You can't blame Jones for this performance as the character doesn't have any history or real depth of character. Accompanying him is Anne Heche who is not believable as someone with a knowledge of geology especially volcanoes. The supporting cast are there and do a job but don't really stand out.

The film is directed by Mick Jackson (The Bodyguard) and although he hasn't done a terrible job in keeping the film moving, he hasn't made the most of the story. The whole film relies on the special effects to keep you glued to it, but if he had made an attempt to explain the characters a bit more and work more with the storyline, he could have made a reasonable film. The soundtrack to the film is totally unmemorable, which is a shame as a decent soundtrack would have helped make this film more than it is.

The Cast
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Tommy Lee Jones .... Mike Roark
Anne Heche .... Dr. Amy Barnes
Gaby Hoffmann .... Kelly Roark
Don Cheadle .... Emmit Reese
Keith David .... Police Lieutenant Ed Fox
Jacqueline Kim .... Dr. Jaye Calder

Technical Details
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Certificate: 12
Length: 104 mins

The Message & Christian View Point
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There is a very small sub story in this film which deals with racial prejudice. It demonstrates that we are all the same and that it's better to work together than against each other.

Conclusion & Rating
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With the weak story, poor characters and only special effects to drive the movie, do not bother with this film. There are plenty of other films out there which have better effects, decent stories and believable characters. If you want to watch a good disaster movie, I would recommend The Towering Inferno, it may be getting on a bit, but at least it's believable.

The film is currently available on Amazon for £5.99 which to me is to expensive for this film.