Armageddon turned out to be one of the best
disaster films I've ever seen.
I love good disaster movies. A good disaster
movie is a kind of science fiction that works by pulling the
viewer into the stuggle to prevail against some impersonal
threat. I think pretty much every aspect of Armageddon succeeds
wonderfully.
The visual impact of the movie is dazzling and
carefully crafted. The emotional pacing of the story is
fantastic, I think, starting out with a breathtaking shock and
rapidly picking up speed from there. Stunningly vivid action is
cut and layered with subtle coloring and quietly revealing close
up portraits to create an effective, heartstopping mood. Several
segments of the story are structured like small movies within the
larger film, keeping a thumping emotional pace building.
As in all good disaster movies, there are no
villians in this story. Each of the characters becomes likable
and easy to sympathize with as they are forced to reach for their
own deepest heroic nature. Development of the story's many
diverse characters is accomplished to surprising depth at the
movie's extremely fast pace using accents of color that would be
excessive in a slower moving story. The characters are drawn with
an overpowering, pro-wrestling kind of neon intensity that is
oddly believable in the story's nightmarish context. There are
ample cliches to annoy more literate viewers, but the movie is
great fun and might even bring a few tears to your eyes. I think
Armageddon would be an excellent choice for entertaining stuffed
holiday guests as a double feature following Godzilla.
