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 (040403) Some movies are dumb and unenjoyable, some movies
are smart and stupefying dull, it’s nice to see a movie that is gloriously
stupid and fun as hell. The Core’s basic idea is that the Earth’s core has
stopped spinning and because of that we’re all going to die. It never really
explains how (we get this vague explanation about the government’s earthquake
making machine but unless it was used without any one knowing about it that
can’t be the reason) and the way we get the thing spinning is years away from
construction but we have fun while we’re watching it.
Core begins with three exceptional special effects sequences involving people
keeling over from heart attacks in the middle of the street, birds going insane
and dive bombing into glass windows and a space shuttle flying over Dodger
Stadium before landing in the Los Angeles river (seen in the opening of the TV
series Boomtown). Crack scientist (and the man who was almost cast as Batman in
Year One) Aaron Eckhart and Patriot’s Tcheky Karyo are consulted then dismissed
but Eckhart has a clue of what’s happening and investigates further. After
presenting his findings to the Carl Sagan-like Stanley Tucci he is brought in to
solve the problem (where he demonstrates what is happening to us by deep frying
a peach), which leads us to eccentric scientist Delroy Lindo. Along the way they
pick up shuttle pilots Bruce (underground in two films in a row with this and
Below) Greenwood and Hilary Swank as well as D.J. Qualls (a computer geek who
must keep the world uninformed about what’s really happening).
Lindo was a friend of Tucci’s at one point and he has been working out in the
middle of the desert on a few things that will allow a team to journey down to
the center of the Earth to restart the core with a nuclear explosion. One of the
things is the ship (called Virgil), another a laser powerful enough to cut
through anything and the other is called unobtainium, the material used to allow
the ship to not become a huge hot pocket. After being given a big check to
create the ship the team begins to work towards their journey.
After a huge electrical storm (one of many hitting us) that destroys Rome the
team is told to get ready and the cool thing here is that we don’t get the usual
‘the ship and it’s crew aren’t ready’ speech, they just load up and go.
We know from jump street everyone’s not going to make it (hell, the ship is
designed to separate into small coffin like compartments just so we can get rid
of some of them) and the filmmakers don’t pretend otherwise. Every death is
noble and agonizing on the survivors but inspires them to go on. We also get the
big revelation that the government has created a device that creates earthquakes
that must be used after the explosives expert (Karyo) dies. Using the machine
might start the core but might kill the crew and we get this vague explanation
that it may have started the stoppage in the first place but not how since we
get the idea it hadn’t been used yet.
The crew inside the ship has a good time with the lines they are given, none
more than Tucci who hams it up incredibly. The constant drilling (and the stop
inside a pocket of Krypton like crystals that has then walking around outside
the ship as if they were going to the corner store) through the Earth combined
with the destruction of the West Coast looks wonderful.
Core is one of those goofy films that we saw a lot in the 70’s. Mass destruction
(man would Sensurround have worked well here) on a global scale, subtle hints of
romance, major actors in minor roles (why is Alfre Woodard here?) and
stultifying dialogue delivered without a hint of disgust, this film has it all.
The film isn’t doing great at the box office but I’ll bet the DVD sells and
rents a ton when it comes out.
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