Stop The Earth, I Want To Get Off

The Core

Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci

Director: Jon Amiel

Ya remember all those 1950’s, B-grade sci-fi flicks with the white-jacketed scientist in big glasses standing inside a laboratory, with bubbling glass vials and some type of electrical generator humming in the background, and the scientist with a grave face talking to three military men and saying stuff like “It must be some form of mutation, gentlemen. Now the lizard is the size of a house!”?

Well, if you don’t, you can get acquainted with them with The Core. This is a rompin’ silly tale with the requisite scientist, along with the military men, also with an appropriate plot: something has happened to the Earth’s core to make it stop spinning, and our heroes must find a way to get it back going again.

This 2003 update of those cheapo movies certainly has some cool scenes: there is a Shuttle crash-landing at the very beginning of the flick that is completely improbable but darn rum good, exciting fun, and a wacky scene in London where flocks of birds run amok. Both are related: because the wigged-out magnetic field, you see, misguides both birds and Shuttle.

I must admit that I giggled a lot watching this movie. And how will they get the core spinning again? Why, use a giant, self-guided drill to mow down to the center of the Earth and explode some nuclear bombs. Of course. There are so many logical inconsistencies and just plain shaky science I could fill this page, but never mind: the action and the drama of knowing that only a few of those going down to the core will survive, and trying to figure out who, is the point.

Do I recommend this? It is so goofy and energetically true to its roots for me not to, although I do stick with my 2 rating. It may not be terribly good, but it is worth watching. Just have a bag of chips a few glasses of Guinness handy to enjoy it properly.