The Core – Der innere Kern (2003)

The Core – Der innere Kern: Directed by Jon Amiel. With Christopher Shyer, Ray Galletti, Eileen Pedde, Rekha Sharma. The only way to save Earth from catastrophe is to drill down to the core and set it spinning again.

“How can you tell when a director is bad? I mean, assuming the director is given $50 million or so, competent actors, and a halfway-decent script, what would the film look like if he/she REALLY didnu0026#39;t know what he/she was doing? I think that film would look a lot like u0026quot;The Core.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFrom the preview stage, this movie was on my u0026quot;might see it but not pay for itu0026quot; list, so I just now caught it on cable. Hilary Swank and Aaron Eckhart will definitely have Oscars someday, and most of the other actors who make it on the ship are of similar caliber. The comic relief generally works (u0026quot;Iu0026#39;m going to need Xena tapes and lots of Hot Pocketsu0026quot;), and the plot is no more ridiculous than, say, u0026quot;The Day After Tomorrowu0026quot; (though it is slightly LESS ridiculous– at least this movie attempts to offer a cause for the problem, however unlikely).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI remember watching u0026quot;Entrapment,u0026quot; another John Amiel film, and thinking it was, in a word, awful. The editing was off, the plot lumbered ahead only through the will of Sean Conneryu0026#39;s accent and Catherine Zeta-Jones spandex-clad anatomy. Watching u0026quot;The Core,u0026quot; Amiel has decided his mistake was pacing, and turns up the volume to eleven and full speed ahead, hoping the charisma of his actors covers his butt. In the second half of the film, this works fine. In the first half, it just shows his limitations as a director… poor special effects during the space shuttle landing that could easily have been fixed with model work or different camera angles; birds going crazy and smacking into buildings look exactly like someone tossed a dummy against a building, then the editor cut it as close as possible. Truly, this is a man at the helm who doesnu0026#39;t know what a good film is supposed to look like. I wonder what an Ed Wood movie would have looked like, if someone had given THAT guy $50 million?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCharacters die with clockwork predictability, and my only problem with the resolution was the actors were TOO good. They play geniuses, the absolute best in their fields, so when the movie ends I wanted to spend more time with them, see what incredible problems, discoveries, adventures they had next. The movie itself is barely a D+, thanks to the actors, occasionally adequate special effects (which we will call simply u0026quot;effectsu0026quot;), and a really great score to hold it all together. Iu0026#39;d buy the score (not the pop songs over the credits) before Iu0026#39;d watch the movie again, but itu0026#39;s a thumbs up effort for everyone who isnu0026#39;t Amiel. Worth a dollar if you have two hours to kill.”