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USA 1997
Director: Mick Jackson
Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche, Gaby Hoffmann, Don Cheadle, Jacqueline Kim, Keith David, John Corbett
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: 25 April 1997
Running Time: 1 hour 44 minutes
The Movie Review
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| VOLCANO |
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Whew year 1997 sure is hot, not long ago on February we got Dante's Peak (1997), now on April we got Volcano. In the recent years we have been entertained with the comebacks of action-disaster genre movies, to name a few the sinking Waterworld (1995), and the twirling Twister (1996). But it's been such a long time since Hollywood made the latest Volcano-related movie.
Unfortunately/fortunately Volcano has chosen the wrong time to appear at the theater, because Dante's Peak (1997) really sits at the peak of modern Volcano-related movies, at least until before the new millennium. I sincerely believe one of the core reasons that led people to buy the admission tickets to see Volcano is that the recent Volcanic-hype that has been created earlier by Dante's Peak. As a disaster movie, Volcano actually has set the tone right... Only that it has many flaws erupted here and there.
Tommy Lee Jones roles as Mike Roark, a man who works as an emergency official of OEM (Office of Emergency Management) which has the authority to control all the resources in the city to cope with any natural disaster happens in Los Angeles. On a one fine morning, Los Angeles is rocked by a large earthquake that blackens the whole city of Los Angeles. It turns out to be the movement of active volcano deep down beneath Los Angeles that finally emerges to the surface through the famous La Brea Tar Pits.
Mike and his daughter Kelly (Gaby Hoffmann) then rush with their car to the safe place and while they're on their way near the La Brea Tar Pits, it erupts. Kelly get burnt on her leg and had to be rushed to a hospital, while Mike decides that he should stay despite Kelly's disapproval and try to handle the situation. Alas, there is one more major problem to handle; apparently La Brea Tar Pits is not the only place where the Volcano is going to burst open its lava.
Concerning the film itself, it's just have too many humors running around in it, either in the form of witty dialogues or some scenes that instead of making Volcano as a breathtaking action film, the humors make Volcano seem to be some kind of half-baked disaster film. What I meant is, given the situation of desperation and powerless of the lava snaking its way around the city, the tone should be set darker and gloomier. Volcano set to be somehow light-hearted and humorous, and that makes this volcanic disaster looks silly. For example, there's a lava rock that hits a signboard of a blonde woman in lingerie (hot blonde) and then another rock hits an ethnic mask with horns on a store that implies "fiery devil", several seconds are dedicated to those scenes to make sure the audience notices it.
There are some definite intense moments by the way, with Mike Roark hanging on a moving ladder above the lava for example and touching moments too between different ethnics living in Los Angeles. With decent CGI of the lava and its snaking movement including the ending scene involving big blasting moment could eventually make this action disaster film as an entertaining view.
Still though, Volcano doesn't know where to stand, this movie is standing on the thin red line between comedy-disaster and disaster-disaster.
© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
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