The Core
Review by Clint Morris
 When
the core of our planet stops revolving on its axis, a motley
crew of hurriedly trained scientists (led by college professor
Aaron Eckhart) must accompany two astronauts [Bruce Greenwood,
Hilary Swank] to the Earth's center, so they can jump-start
our globe using nuclear weapons.
Right? Done.
The first of the mindless popcorn pleasers of the U.S summer,
The Core, takes a page out of Michael Bay's Armageddon
guidebook, Xeroxes it, replaces that film's rag-tag horde
of unlikely heroes for new ones and excises the Aerosmith.
Surely no 14 or 15 year old will even notice, right?
Yes and No. While everything from the plot to the characters
is extremely comparable, the film's chief special effects
and large scale action sequences are so enjoyable you'll forget
you've actually seen this all before. And maybe that's the
appeal of this type of films. You know they're dumb, you know
the acting is going to be dire and you know not to expect
anything less than a smorgasbord of CGI and something resembling
an intense storyline.
Twister, Armageddon, Deep Impact and
Independence Day didn't make their crust on acting
after all...
For the most part, The Core succeeds in delivering
what it promises - good-looking junk. If watching the Golden
Gate bridge get ripped in half or seeing a ship whoosh through
the earth's middle surrounded by a conflagration of computer
generated fairy dust is your thing - then you'll have no qualms
here.
Some may be mislead by the casting though - yep, that's Oscar
Winner Hilary Swank slumming it as lead heroine. No idea why
on earth she decided to do this film; it's a very generic
part for her. But having said that, she does just fine. Here's
just hoping she was nicely paid.
Aaron Eckhart, as the film's token doubtful hero, looks much
more at home, if only because he desperately needs to leave
behind the supporting roles he's been stuck in for too long
for something resembling a lead - and if a mindless summer
blockbuster is the way to do it, then why not.
The Core is going to cop it pretty hard from the majority
of Australian critics, but from the standpoint of a group
of teenagers looking for a fun afternoon at the pictures,
then you couldn't do much better.
3 out of 5
The Core
Australian release: Thursday June 12th
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Bruce Greenwood,
Stanley Tucci, D.J Qualls.
Director: Jon Amiel.
Website: Click
here
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