Volcano (1997)

There's been a movie made about almost every other type of natural disaster, so why not volcano's? Actually, why not make two movies? This big budget trash went up against that other big budget trash, Dante's Peak, back in 1997; and even though this one obviously had more to work with; it still managed to come off even shorter than Pierce Brosnan's dreary vehicle. Featuring all manner of "great" special effects and autopilot performances from all concerned; Volcano subscribes to the classic 'disaster movie' profile, and shows this further by ensuring that the plot makes about as much sense as blowing up your house to keep it from being robbed. Tommy Lee Jones struts his stuff as some bloke who works for the government, and Anne Heche gets down and dirty as someone who knows about volcanoes. When a volcano erupts in Los Angeles (where'd that come from?), it's up to these two (and a load of firemen etc) to stop the lava in its tracks before Tommy Lee Jones' daughter is killed! Oh...and the rest of LA. The story is set up in the usual way; someone notices something, blah blah, he's ignored, blah blah, disaster happens, blah blah, the day is saved. Blah. Blah.

This film is completely pointless, and is obviously only there for entertainment value. Still, even as entertainment, this falls flat on it's face. Obviously, in a film like this; you've got to expect some over the top sequences and silly goings on (such as a sequence that sees a train worker save one of his friends...), but the film continually throws stupid ideas into the plot, and before long it just gets so silly that it's impossible to care about it. Quite how Tommy Lee Jones has managed to maintain a semi-respectable reputation after all these years is astounding. To me, his name has become synonymous with 'stupid load of rubbish'. He might have the ability to portray a rugged action character, but he's unbelievably corny and doesn't make a good lead. Anne Heche stars opposite him and just does what you'd expect the 'female with brains' to do. Don Cheadle, who met with high acclaim after his performance in the massively overrated Hotel Rwanda, gives a very mundane performance, but I'd still rather watch him than either of the two leads. On the whole, if you're going into this expecting some brainless fun; you'll be pleased to know that it is brainless, but unfortunately it's about as much fun as an actual volcanic eruption. Definitely NOT recommended.