The average sci-fi catastrophe movie usually consists of something large and significant threatening to destroy the Earth. Then a heroic group of super-geniuses discovers a clever (improbable) way to thwart the threat that involves nuclear weapons, and does so, losing several group-members in the act.
On that scale, The Core is indeed an average catastrophe movie. A geophysics professor named Dr. Josh Keyes Played by Aaron Eckhart) discovers that for some reason, the Earth’s core has stopped spinning, and as a result, its protective electro-magnetic shell disappears, rendering the planet susceptible to the sun’s radiation, among other adverse effects. A US general (Played by Richard Jenkins) then gathers a group of the top scientists in their fields, and sends them down into the planet’s core to fix the problem using a very futuristic, long, drilling ship that resembles a mechanical worm.
It’s an interesting idea that unfortunately, takes up much of the movie’s time, not allowing for too much character development or social interaction. The little that there is, however, is good. The differences between the characters are excellently prtrayed and could have made for some more interesting scenes. Most notable is the constant tension coming from a celebrity scientist, named Dr Conrad Zimsky (Played by Stanley Tucci) and a Russian nuclear weapons expert named Dr. Serge Leveque (Played by Tchzky Karyo). Eventually, this tension explodes…
Like in most sci-fi adventures, the special effects are important. Most effects involve giant colorful blobs of rock moving by the mechanical worm, where the "terranauts", as the crew called themselves, are housed. However, there are some very cool special effects during some of the actual catastrophes, like the melting of a city here, an evil thunderstorm there…
However, this movie greatly resembles a 1998 hit, Armageddon, and if you’ve seen it, you won’t be missing out on anything if you don’t see The Core. Someone has to die by drawing straws, for example, and there is a top-secret government backup plan involved. The human factor in Armageddon far surpasses that of The Core, the excuse for not having any worldwide chaos probably being that the genius-but-sort-of-crazy computer-hacker character called "Rat" (Played by DJ Qualls) was hired to suppress all information on the internet having anything to do with the planet’s peril.
Overall, the great cast did service to their roles, especially Stanley Tucci, but just like the movie, they deliver only what’s expected. Nothing totally awesome makes this movie and absolute must-see, but that’s not to say it shouldn’t be seen at all. If you want some tense, chair-gripping action without too much drama or realistic scientific thought, then this movie is for you. Otherwise, watch Armageddon.