Running time: 144 minutes
Rating 6 out of 10
While Deep Impact attempted philosophy and an examination of individual human peril, the second comet catastrophe movie of last year adopts a rather different approach. In the sort of manoeuvre grandly qualifying as 'last ditch', NASA top dog Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) calls in deep core drilling supremo Harry S Stamper (Willis) to become an astronaut inside of ten minutes, hop on the next shuttle to Asteroid Central, bore an 800 ft hole, sink a nuke and depart shouting yippee-kay-ey while the boulder turns into pebbles. The delicate production sensibilities of Jerry Bruckheimer - producer of The Rock and Con Air - guarantees buckets more bang for your buck in an overblown, cheese-riddled action blockbuster. Willis's team is notably fleshed out by hunky hero Ben Affleck, teary love interest Liv Tyler and sardonic geologist Steve Buscemi, who gets what few choice one-liners there are. And the overall flaw lies in this department: a script lacking in sufficient irony or tongue-in-cheek exchanges to qualify the physics-defying premise and budget-sapping special effects. It's not a bad ride, but at two hours plus, it's overlong and not nearly as fun as it should have been.
