I finally saw Armageddon a couple weeks ago at
the local Cinema cafe and drafthouse. It has a mediocre sound
system, so I knew I wasn't going to be deafened. It was better
than I thought it would be. Yes, every meteor shower just happens
to land in a metropolitan area. Yes, it is very predictable (when
I saw two space shuttles, I said to myself "oh, that is so
one can get destroyed". I knew someone would sacrifice their
lives when a detonator failed to go off as soon as the bomb
concept was introduced). Yes, the editing is fast, furious, and
usually superfluous. Yes, the science was frequently nonsense.
But I kind of liked it anyway. The cast was
generally high quality. Will Patton, Peter Stormare, and Steve
Buscemi stood out. Patton added a necessary level of dignity to
the crew, and Stormare and Buscemi were in on the joke that this
was all melodramatic hokum. And despite the melodrama, and all
the manipulation, I got choked up when Patton's kid greeted him
with a "daddy!" on the landing strip. I know I would
have rolled my eyes before my kid was born, but I now I am
finding myself a pushover for emotional father and son scenes.
And it won't bomb on video ( I can't recall who
said it would). It is the top grossing film released this year,
and even the horrid Godzilla is selling and renting briskly.
