Deep Impact

Directed by Mimi Leder, Deep Impact details the relative chaos that ensues after it’s revealed that an enormous comet is going to collide with our planet. Filmmaker Leder does a typically solid job of immediately luring the viewer into the decidedly epic proceedings, with the movie benefiting substantially from both its irresistible premise and surfeit of captivating performances. (The impressive cast includes, among others, Morgan Freeman, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, and Robert Duvall.) And while the narrative is chock-a-block with many of the conventions and tropes one associates with stories of this ilk, Leder nevertheless manages to effectively transform Deep Impact into a consistently engrossing piece of work – with the film’s better-than-average atmosphere perpetuated by the ongoing inclusion of unexpectedly tense sequences. Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin’s screenplay admittedly does push the melodrama to its breaking point, and yet it’s difficult to deny that certain late-in-the-game moments pack an unexpectedly emotional punch. Deep Impact was the second asteroid-hits-the-earth movie released in 1998, following Michael Bay’s typically overblown and oddly tedious Armageddon, and it’s clear that the movie is not only the better picture of the two but also a modern classic within the disaster-film genre.

***1/2 out of ****