"It's so bad that it's almost good" does not apply here...

'The Core' isn't the worst film ever made... but it's pretty damn close! I am not sure it's possible to ever see a film worse than 'Speed 2: Cruise Control', but this 'Armageddon' clone almost made me reconsider.

While virtually all of them have panned this film, some of my fellow critics have claimed 'it's so bad that it's almost good.' Now I agree that that peculiar phenomenon exists, but usually it only applies to some low budget comedies and some high budget porn. When a movie as expensive as 'The Core' takes itself as seriously as this, the 'it's so bad, it's good' review is moot and inapplicable. This is dreadful filmmaking and deserves to be reviewed as such.

I am not going to dignify this film with a plot recap... let's just say that it is identical to 'Armageddon' except for the substitution of a meteor with the earth's core.

I am at a complete loss to explain the participation of most of the cast. Aaron Eckhart was apparently not making enough money as he plodded from one Neil LaBute film to the next. I am sure the paycheck will offset the ridicule and embarrassment he will feel in ten years from having done this film. Hilary Swank has gone from 'undeserved Oscar winner' to 'Liv Tyler ineptitude' in a few short years. Will she follow in Cuba Gooding's footsteps and throw away a perfectly good career? Delroy Lindo has always been a secondary character, but he usually plays second fiddle in good films. And both Stanley Tucci and Alfre Woodard show that it's not beneath them to sell out either. As for DJ Qualls... he is well on his way to becoming a second-rate Anthony Michael Hall.

Sometimes in films like this you can laugh at the poor special effects or the bad acting or the mind-blowingly ridiculous plot... but sitting through 'The Core', all one can feel is boredom, anger and pity. I am so far above this material and demand so much more out of a film than this one can deliver. I value my time too much to waste it on burning peaches.

© Written by TC Candler

How We Rated This Film TC Candler - No Stars F Richard Propes - C- Jacob Hall -

Richard Propes' Comment

I'm still trying to figure out what TC means by burning peaches. The film? It's irrelevant. I'm dying to know what he means by burning peaches, though.

TC's Reply

If you can bare to watch the first fifteen minutes of the film again, you will see what I mean.  You won't miss it... I promise!  That scene struck me as one of the dumbest that I have ever seen in over 3000 movies!!!

Jacob Hall's Comment

N/A