Armageddon Review

What would the end of the world look like? Well according to Michael Bay’s motion picture Armageddon (1998), the end of the world wouldn’t just be a depressing swan song for everybody to partake in but an occasion, a momentous event for people of great character to rise up and face the worst of times with everything that makes the human spirit great including humor and love but also showcasing the worst of humanity in fear, and death. In the late nineties Michael Bay put out one of his best efforts onscreen Armageddon which magically combines the best elements of a human drama with those a big screen blockbuster. In this adventure the world is facing its impending doom as a series of asteroids have started coming down and crashing into the Earth. Now NASA has learned that another asteroid is coming to plummet into the majestic ocean rich Earth and one the size of Texas which would mean the end of humankind as everyone knows it. So what does NASA do? They go to the best deep sea oil driller on the planet Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and recruit him to lead a team of drillers to go into space and drill into the asteroid to prevent the asteroid from impacting into the Earth. Harry Stamper is facing a crisis of his own at the moment besides the momentous crisis of the Earth ending which is one of his top drillers A.J. (Ben Affleck) being in a relationship with his young daughter Grace (Liv Tyler). But yet even with all that on his shoulders Harry accepts the mission from NASA one one condition: he gets to use his own team which includes him recruiting A.J., the one man he wouldn’t want to work another job with on the planet. So the story continues as NASA trains Harry and his team to prepare them for their mission in space which they take off on and face a whole series of obstacles that shake the audience’s expectations and keeps them on the edge of their seats.

The cast in this movie is one which the director Michael Bay should be applauded for being able to assemble such a terrific ensemble. With your top two headliners Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck you basically have an adventure being told starring John McClane and Batman. Bruce Willis does a terrific job at the age of 43 in this movie portraying a seasoned oil driller at the top of his game who is deeply human as he is very much flawed with characteristics of immaturity present and a host of fatherhood troubles with his daughter Grace played by Liv Tyler. Liv Tyler is terrific as Grace, effectively pulling off a daughter to a man in a blue collar business who has a heart for love though and is in opposition to her father’s desire though. The man Grace is in love with A.J. is played by Ben Affleck who effortlessly brings to life a character who is upbeat and joyful, a bit of a troublemaker hence his relationship with his boss’s daughter but yet one who is obviously intelligent with his ability to participate with the best of the best in the drilling game. The cast is rounded out by other excellent performers such as Owen Wilson who plays Oscar, the horse-riding jokester, Michael Clark Duncan who plays Bear, a character for all his imposing characteristics brings a great sense of levity to the screen, Steve Buscemi who plays Rockhound, a character lets just say has a thing for the ladies, and Billy Bob Thornton as Dan Truman, the audience’s representative for NASA in the film. The actors that surround the main leads in the film and form the team aspect of this adventure are effective in bringing a great sense of levity to the film and a deep sense of drama while keeping true to their characters when the film commands it.

The cast does a great job of embodying their characters journeys and the nature of the tension or comedic relief which allows the director Michael Bay to explore some interesting themes here. Comedy or comedic relief is a major theme explored obviously. When all the characters are preparing for their mission to save the Earth from certain doom they don’t dour in self-pity but take this opportunity to present the best in themselves not at the expense of having some fun though. By the characters being utilized smartly in this type of fashion the story is allowed to be fleshed out more and really bring to life the stakes that are present. This is so true because if you don’t care about the characters why do you care if the Earth is destroyed in a movie? Along with comedic relief romance is explored as a theme, between A.J. and Grace. This theme is used to raise the stakes with the mission and make a big impact in the development of the plot. Right alongside that theme, parenthood is a unique element also explored and it drives the story so much with the lead character Harry (Bruce Willis) driven so much by his experiences as a parent. The culmination of all these themes would have to be the human drama that is explored in this adventure since when things gets dark and the laughs stop going off nonstop the characters face enormous obstacles and thematically the reality of all these experiences from all these themes come together to represent a unified representation of the human spirit and will encaptured by the storytellers and performers of Armageddon.

So with everything that Armageddon is, and all that its cinematic experience brings to the table what does it matter? What does this do to send a message to the world? How is the cinema forever impacted with the addition of this film? Are humans truly people who will resort to goodness when even their will be ones that will push back and turn to the evils of the world? All these questions are a fundamental part of what the cinematic experience of this film allows the audience to ponder and answer. This film sends a message that humanity can be truly good even when evil pushes its hardest. I believe the cinema will forever be better off with this film as it shows that you can face a dire circumstance with the best of intentions, with the best of yourself, and not resort to the evils of this world. This film is a great adventure that everybody should see and I have no major complaints about this film. The only element I think that could have been adjusted would be the pacing, as the exposition to get from Earth to space was really fast paced. The fast pacing may be a good thing as it keeps the story flowing but anyways it doesn’t really distract from the overall experience of the film. Armageddon is a rollercoaster of a film, one that delivers a positive message about humanity and I’m assigning this film a score of 9.5/10.