DANTE'S PEAK
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 1997 Christopher Null
For those keeping score, here's the new Hollywood movie formula: TWISTER - tornado + other disaster = $$$!
$$$ may be right, but ***** is definitely not forthcoming, at least not in the case of DANTE'S PEAK, a shameless and blatant rip-off of the mildly entertaining aforementioned film that is largely responsible for the return to prominence of the disaster movie. This time around, it's a volcano that threatens the peace of little Dante's Peak, and it's Pierce Brosnan who comes to the rescue.
Here's how frightening the similarities are. Both films open with a flashback explaining why this particular act of nature is so traumatic to the hero (Helen Hunt in TWISTER, Brosnan in PEAK). Both feature a team of gosh-darn-nutty scientists investigating the disasters, plus an unlikely romance-on-the-run for the leads. Both sport far-too-crisp digital effects. Both are full of small-town kitsch (TWISTER is set in the midwest, PEAK is a sleepy Northwestern village). Both are full of bad jokes and bad acting to go along with the bad weather. Both have a "grandma" character *and* a dog who are injured by the force of nature. Hell, both even feature a big red truck that gets destroyed by the disaster in question!
DANTE'S PEAK, trying to outdo TWISTER with a volcano, ups the level of things that are destroyed, and it features lots of ash raining down, flowing lava, and lots and lots of buildings blowing up(!) And that's really about it. Really.
But what makes PEAK so bad, where TWISTER was passably good? Is it the cheeseball dialogue and a really horrid performance from Linda Hamilton? Or is it the precocious children? Is it the fact that if everyone in the town of Dante's Peak wasn't dumber than a post, this whole disaster would have been avoided (that means you, grandma)?
I say, let 'em fry. DANTE'S PEAK blows.
RATING: *1/2
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
-Christopher Null / null@filmcritic.com / Writer-Producer -Visit the Movie Emporium at http://www.filmcritic.com -and Null Set Productions at http://www.filmcritic.com/nullset.htm
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