This action-packed movie just happens to star three of Psibabe’s favorite Hollywood icons: Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche and, most importantly, the La Brea tar pits. Only one of these have we had occasion to visit multiple times while in Los Angeles for E3.
In general, the special effects are great: treading the line between believable and spectacular. There are times, however, when artifacts of the compositing process are visible; things that aren’t noticeable when projected onto a screen, but are much easier to see on a television screen. Another thing that is done in a couple of places is cutting to actual video of a live volcano. While this does provide absolutely realistic footage of volcanic activity, there are differences in the film quality, contrast or sharpness that makes it noticeable that it’s stock footage inserted in the movie. Again, if you saw this film in the theater or if you have a projection setup in your house, then you might not notice this at all.
Tommy Lee Jones stars as Mike Roark, the head of the Los Angeles Office of Emergency Management and divorced father trying to balance these two responsibilities during times of extreme hardship. Anne Heche is Dr. Amy Barnes, an impetuous and over-eager local geological expert who is called in to shed some light on recent inexplicable geological activity following a large earthquake. When their paths cross, we see a complex interaction between them as each has to learn to depend on each other and Roark has to learn that he can’t protect everyone all of the time. Mike Roark’s daughter, played by Gaby Hoffman (from Adventures in Babysitting) is faced with adversity and finds the meaning of responsibility in this trial by fire.
Another interesting social dynamic portrayed in Volcano is the interaction between a very large and strong black man with an ardent, though possibly warranted, loathing of authority who tries to get assistance from the police and fire fighters for a residential area that was burning as a result of lava, and a cocky white policeman who seemed more afraid of the rebellious black man than the lava.
All in all, Volcano provides a fun, action-filled ride. And when all hell breaks loose, the coast is toast.
