I watched The Core the other day. Quick synopsis: The earth's core has stopped spinning. This spinning created the electromagnetic field that protects us from being fried by the sun's rays. Our team of intrepid heroes must take a cutting edge (pun intended) ship to the center of the earth, set off some nukes and jump-start the planet.

Okay, part of going to the movies often is the suspension of disbelief. In this film it is critical. You MUST believe that this is all possible. You MUST believe in the metal called "unobtainium." You MUST believe that not only does it not melt when travelling trouble through magma, but that it gets stronger as more pressure is applied to it. You MUST believe that "intronauts" can wear a simple space suit and walk around inside the earth's sub-mantle. You MUST believe that you can maintain radio contact with 'mission control' despite being under miles of molten lava and metal. Oh yeah, and you should probably also believe that a great navigator can land a space shuttle in the world-famous canals of Los Angeles, dodging bridges all the way.

If you can do all that, you will like this film. It is a cheap ripoff of every "gotta save the world" movie ever made. It is Armageddon in the opposite direction. It is a very ordinary film, but the acting and affects make it watchable. Kudos really goes to nobody for anything in this film, but in the end it is bearable once you throw all common sense out of your head.

Stanley Tucci is always a fun actor to watch - his Conrad Zimsky character was fun albeit somewhat plastic.

RATING 5 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 11:00 AM