I liked it. It had a lot of problems, but damn if I didn't like it. Remember films like THE TOWERING INFERNO, EARTHQUAKE, ROLLERCOASTER... those old Irwin Allen disaster flicks? Well DEEP IMPACT is a 90's Irwin Allen film. Large cast of respected actors all thrown into a disaster that during, they never interact. Always staying separated. I like those old films. Now it ain't THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE which I really really love (and was the first film I ever saw) but I would say it is on an even keel with THE TOWERING INFERNO. The only thing it needed to be a perfect carbon copy of an old Irwin Allen flick would be a song that overlaps a sequence written preferably by Paul Williams...
Morgan Freeman, Robert Duval, Vanessa Redgrave and Maximillian Schell are all wonderful on screen. Especially the ol madman from BLACK HOLE. He doesn't do much in the film, but I can say I wish he did more in modern film. He propelled me to a couple of tears, in the same way that Charlton Heston did playing the Player King in Branagh's HAMLET. You know, just watching an old familiar face do what they did so well so long ago.
Ya know, it's interesting watching a film with an actor you've been hanging out with recently. First off, it changes the way you see them acting. In this instance it's Elijah Wood. An actor that I've been waiting to see kick ass ever since he killed Culkin in THE GOOD SON. The biggest influence my knowing him had on my review was that when I saw his character say something stupid, I realized it wasn't Elijah Wood that was stupid, it was the writers and the director. Case in point is this one sequence, involving Elijah and his girl (who really does look like a lil Helen Hunt). Now I'm not saying what happens in the scene, but he asks her something. Then pauses. She pauses for a long time, then his character follows up with the stupidest line in an eon. The audience roared in laughter... the only time in the film mind you. I'm sure most people are going to hit Elijah for that, but that was a terrible line, and the scene should of been: Question, pause, girl in tears, and hug. There was no need for a follow up statement, especially one so inanely written.
Then ya have the effects. I didn't really care for the comet stuff, but the results of the DEEP IMPACT are FANTASTIC. I really got excited about the shots. There is only one shot where I squinted a bit at motion blurring, but the rest kicked ass. There was one shot that Copernicus audibly gasped at and said, "alright maaaaan!" But overall, I think the payoff effects are some of the better work ILM has done recently. Mucho kudos. I might very well go see the film again for the end sequence. Especially the bit with ol Lady Liberty.
Now what went wrong with the film. What kept the film from being a great movie. First off I really do believe the material could of made for a GREAT film, had the filmmakers been gutsy enough to go for it. What am I talking about? Well, first off have you ever been to a screening where the people were handing out free posters or buttons or anything? You know how the audience (yourself perhaps) turns into an angry and anxious mob no longer caring for the safety of others. How you fight and claw your way to that poster that you most likely roll up and put in your closet away from the eyes of man or beast. Now how would that same 500 people react if they were told they'd die if the weren't randomly chosen? I understand the concept of nobility, but it is just something I don't see exhibited at a massive scale. If you were to tell the population of the planet that Scarlett's tomorrow wasn't going to be another day, you would have a mob of vicious angry deceitful monsters killing and maiming and trampling those that stood between them and an extra breath of air. Now a line in the film during a Presidential speech is supposed to take care of this sort of thing, but since when does the American public follow the orders of the President?
Also, as I've been voicing since the beginning, I really don't think the decentralized story works that well. In this film you don't really give a rat's ass for the characters, ya just know who the good guys are, who the self sacrificing guys are, who the dead bodies are, etc... But you don't care about them. Personally I would of loved to of seen a film that focused more. Like, what would it be like to be a kid who never had a chance to love, standing on the brink of extinction? What would it be like to be the President of the United States, and know you'll be the last? How would it feel to be the anchor that told the world... tomorrow is the last day you will ever see? These are heavy as hell points that would take an entire film devoted to each question, in this polaroid version, you don't get a sense of it... of the enormity.
In TITANIC you knew what it was like to know you had one night to love, one night to fight to stay alive. You saw how much people wanted to live. You saw how much life meant. Here.... you don't and that's what we needed to make the film a great film. Instead we have a little Irwin Allen flick. They should of stayed away from the comet and focused on the human quotient. Get us involved, make us wonder if we would see tomorrow. Instead I am left wondering if MSNBC will dominate the world's news service.
The weakest link in the film for me was Tea Leoni's character. I hated her. I wanted her to be the first thing we threw at the Comet. I just felt she was no good at all. Not an ounce of talent or desirability for me. Zip going on, which was really disappointing given I kinda liked her show. But then one never knows does one? I'm hoping her mate, David (Mulder), has better luck this summer.
DEEP IMPACT is a matinee film for me. I wouldn't pay night prices, but I would see it on a Saturday afternoon. Now note, there are going to be people that HATE this film. There are some scenes that hit ya on the noggin with a frying pan, but hey, that's standard for an Irwin Allen film. In the meanwhile let's just hope DreamWorks gets a real solid project out there with SAVING PRIVATE RYAN or SMALL SOLDIERS cause they sure need it. This film should do some moderate business for them, but it isn't the big hit they need. I really hope some of you go into it thinking TOWERING INFERNO, you'll come out happy if you do.
