Armageddon

A- Directed by Michael Bay Running Time: 2:30

Wow. What kind of cliches can I come up with? The thrill ride of the summer. The action-adventure ride of a life time. Aww hell, I'm no good at that. Let's just say that Armageddon is one of the best action films I've seen. Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer have come together to make one hell of a ride. An asteroid is heading towards Earth. The only way to save the planet is to destroy it. But it's not a matter of just sending up some nuclear weapons and blowing it up, it has to be blown up from the inside. So NASA's executive director, Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) gets a hold of the best driller in the world, Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis). Harry and his crew (including A.J. (Ben Affleck), Chick (Will Patton), and Rockhound (Steve Buscemi)) head up to the asteroid to blow it up and save the world. As you might expect, anything and everything that could go wrong, do go wrong. But as in all Bruckheimer films, through adversity, the heroes always triumph.

So what happens isn't all that unexpected, but the way its portrayed is amazing. The movie starts with a bang (literally) with a very cool computer animation of the world being destroyed by an asteroid 65 million years ago. As the team of drillers is put together, there are some very humorous scenes, and some very touching scenes. A.J. is in love with Harry's daughter Grace (Liv Tyler), and the scenes with the three of them are quite moving. A few of the scenes even brought a lump to my throat. The special effects are spectacular. The action sequences are amazing. Bascially, everything you're looking for in a huge summer blockbuster is here. Lots of things blowing up. (Including New York. Why does everyone want to blow up New York? At least some other cities get destroyed in this movie.) Some very funny parts (including a send up of Godzilla early on). Some very moving parts (especially dealing with Harry and Grace) and a lot of action.

I know a lot of people think I over grade, and judging from some of the grades I have up now, maybe that's true. But I don't look at all movies from the eye of a critic. I look at movies from the eye of a fan. If I have fun at a movie, if I get to the end and want more, to me, that's a good movie. So sit back and try and relax, the world is on the verge of extinction, but with Bruce and the boys, you have nothing to worry about.