Volcano

"Volcano" actually raises an interesting question - namely, do we actually need "characters" in an action movie? All of the recent blockbusters, from "Twister" to "Independence Day" have such horrifying portrayals of actual human beings, that I'm beginning to wonder—why do they even try? It is possible to have real characters in a thriller (see Luc Besson's "The Professional" or anything George Lucas has done), but most of the time the protagonists range from vaguely silly ("Speed") to outrightly moronic ("Jurassic Park").

"Volcano" is no exception in this regard, even though it stars the wonderfully talented Tommy Lee Jones and the feisty young Anne Heche. The vaguest hints of a romance between the two are the demon-spawned ideas of some jaded screenwriter desperate to add something human to the mix—and it comes off terrible, not just because Ms. Heche has recently come out as Ellen DeGeneres' girlfriend, but because Tommy Lee Jones is about 700 years her senior.

Whatever. The true star of this movie is the lava, flowing freely from L.A.'s La Brea Tar Pits, destroying anything it gets near with the same cinematic roar that accompanied last summer's Twisters. Throw away the subtexts about race relations (several people behind me at the screening actually moaned "puh-leez..." during some scenes) and you've actually got an exciting adventure flick, great visuals, and the subconscious satisfaction of seeing half of L.A. melt into the Pacific Ocean.

—Ian Williams

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