Volcano

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***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching.  Volcanoes can be anywhere!

 

 

Volcano – 3 out of 5

I saw Volcano in the theater with my dad when it came out in 1997.  I’ll never forget it because there is a sequence where my dad made a joke I’ll never forget.  Spoiler Alert for a film that is over twenty years old, there is a point where a character saves another person by jumping into lava and throwing the other person to safety.  When that happened in the theater, I turned to my dad and said, “Would you do that for me?”  And my dad replied, “Hell no, I’d throw you in and step on in.” He’s the reason my sense of humor is a little dark but it is a pleasant memorable I have of this film.  Currently, I am on a staycation because I was going to lose a week of paid leave and, since I can’t go anywhere due to the fact I want to be a responsible person in the pandemic, I am hanging around the house and watching a whole lot of TV and movies.  The other day, I was in the mood for a cheesy disaster film and this one came to mind.  It is a stupidly cheesy and goofy movie but, honestly, it is kinda fun.

Subtle, Volcano, very subtle.

At one point he corners the volcano and says
that he doesn't care it didn't kill its wife.

After a small earthquake hits downtown Los Angeles, the director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management; Mike Roark (Tommy Lee Jones), leaves his vacation with his daughter Kelly (Gaby Hoffman) in order to help with the event.  After several utility workers are severely burned near a park, Roark begins investigating with C.I.G.S. geologist Dr. Amy Barnes (Anne Heche) and she believes that there is a volcano underneath the city.  The next day, the volcano erupts and the city is thrown into chaos as the lava flowing from the eruption threatens to burn everything in its way.  Now Mike and Amy must lead the city’s emergency workers to try and stop the lava from destroying everything in its path.

They ran out of water and started throwing energy drinks at the lava
but that only seemed to make it stronger.

I won’t make the argument that Volcano is an amazing movie.  It is super cheesy.  Most disaster films are.  It’s almost impossible to avoid because their very nature requires them to be over-the-top and deal with these natural phenomenons on levels that just aren’t realistic.  However, it is very possible to make the cheesiness work.  Sometimes disaster films are a lot of fun and some can be just pure, uncut cringe.  Volcano is undeniably ridiculous…buuuuuuut, it is kinda fun in its ridiculousness.

The pressure finally got to the city.

"In all likelihood, the volcanic ash should be
clogging our engines but fuck you, science!"

The movie science in this one is absurd.  A person can stand less than a few feet from lava and not be burned, lava also can apparently melt people, and so much more.  However, the film is able to succeed in selling this goofiness and complete inaccuracies by making sure the character and drama is there.  A lot of disaster films easily fail because they are more about the spectacle than they are about the characters dealing with the problem.  Volcano is able to make sure there are people in the middle of the madness and they are trying to save the day.  Sure, it doesn’t make me completely overlook how absurd it gets (or the weird fact that a lot of people in this movie have never heard of both lava and volcanoes) but thanks to a script that has a little bit of heart and human determination going on in the story, it ends up working and being fairly entertaining.

"What is happening right now is that a thing called a 'volcano' is underneath
the city...because, apparently, this movie believes no one in L.A. knows
what a volcano is."

The effects in the film are honestly great and hold up.  Sure, there are moments here and there where the compositing is awkward—especially when the volcano erupts—but there are still a lot of really great practical effects going on.  For example, the technique to create lava is tremendous and looks incredibly real.  This is a big factor that assists in making this a disaster film that is entertaining because the reality of a volcano in L.A. feels authentic.

What if, and hear me out on this one, the floor is this stuff?

I know you're expecting me to make an MCU
reference but I'll fight it this one time.

Another aspect about this film that works great is the cast.  This movie has a lot of talent in it and none of them are phoning it in.  Tommy Lee Jones is doing a terrific job of leading the charge, Anne Heche is backing him up terrifically, and there is an incredible cast of supporting players bringing this disaster feature to life.  Don Cheadle, Keith David, John Carroll Lynch, Dayton Callie and literally almost every single player in this movie are fantastic.  Like the practical effects and the writing of the characters, these performances are a big factor for why the film doesn’t fall down the rabbit hole of silliness that so many disaster films fall down into.

I say it a lot but Keith David is a treasure and we need to show him
more love.

Former Fox News Anchor Shepard Smith was
in the film.  I'm including this for no reason.

All this being said the film is far from perfect.  I can overlook the goofiness of a volcano in the middle of L.A. but the film does have a third act that kinda feels like it is reaching the point of tedium.  The second act when the shit hits the fan is genuinely great and very entertaining but, as the film gets to the final act, it kinda feels like it is reaching its breaking point and I was ready for it just to come to its conclusion.  It’s not a bad act but I also felt like it was trying too hard to go too big and that did ultimately affect my engagement with the property.  Also, the story has this very tacked on message about race relations in L.A. as it makes the argument that we are all the same and that disaster can unite us all and make us forget about hating each other.  This is a fine message and one that is kinda expected of a story taking place in L.A. in the 90s but there is no denying that this message felt tacked on and a tad corny.

The volcano was just trying to solve racism.

Volcano might not be a legitimately great movie or one that has endless replay value but it sure can be fun and entertaining.  It has a great cast, the practical effects are legitimately terrific, and it has some great characters to it that makes the drama engaging and brings some heart to it all.  There’s no way around it, it is silly but it is kinda fun despite that and a little bit because of it.