à gauche Gaby Hoffmann : Kelly Roark (Très bien)

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La critique(négative) de Cinéma fantastique
A Los Angeles, les secousses sismiques sont devenues une routine dont plus personne ne s’inquiète. La preuve en est que certains ouvrier s’adonnent à émettre des paris sur la magnitude du dernier tremblement, dans l’espoir de remporter un bien maigre pactole. Aussi lorsqu’un travailleur ressort d’une bouche d’égout brûlé au troisième degré, laissant derrière lui des collègues calcinés, le chef de la police et le responsable des réseaux métropolitains ne s’inquiètent guère. Dans ce climat d’indifférence générale, Mike Roark, le chef de la cellule de crise, mobilise une équipe et part explorer les égouts de la ville pour éclaircir le mystère : un volcan est en train de se réveiller sous la mégapole et s’apprête à libérer sur les avenues des torrents de lave…

Hollywood, en pleine redécouverte du film-catastrophe depuis le début de la décennie, voit déferler une pelletée de projets impliquant des êtres ordinaires plongés dans des situations extraordinaires (pour autant qu’on ne soit pas géologue) : les tornades de Twister, les météores d’Armageddon, l’incendie sous tunnel de Daylight et les éruptions volcaniques du Pic de Dante déferlent, les prods sacrifiant une nouvelle fois des régions entières sur l’autel du « grand spectacle ». Sorti quelques mois à peine après les exploits vulcanologiques de Pierce Brosnan, Volcano exagère à peine le propos, faisant surgir des sous-sols de L.A. les foudres de l’Enfer.

Electricité coupée, bouches d’égout qui sautent sous l’effet de la vapeur, boules de feu qui transpercent le ciel pour s’abattre sur des immeubles, incendies aux multiples foyers, pluies de cendres, tarmac qui fond littéralement au contact de la lave, les péripéties se succèdent tandis que les habituelles figures ectoplasmiques du genre mettent tout en œuvre pour enrayer l’avancée des coulées de lave. Père divorcé incapable de veilleur sur sa fille, adolescente un brin rebelle qui nourrit une incurable aversion envers son père, jeune scientifique au départ raillée qui s’avère être plus qualifiée que prévu. A cela s’ajoute un brassage socio-ethnique des plus démago : Noirs et Blancs, ouvriers et cadres s’unissent face à leur ennemi commun.

Mieux, le flicaillon raciste s’amourache(?!) du Noir provocateur, le chef d’équipe se sacrifie pour sauver un chauffeur de métro, tous participant à cette fusion semblable à celle de la lave, qui ressoude les relations des Angelins qui prennent subitement plaisir à étouffer leurs différences. A la tête de ce baptême du feu, Tommy Lee Jones rejoue la carte du meneur d’hommes (Le Fugitif serait-il dans le coin ?) et échafaude des plans excessivement ingénieux (voire improbables) pour détourner le lit de magma vers l’océan, quitte à abattre un building entier et de signer en même temps un clin d’oeil onéreux à La tour infernale.

Quelques rares scènes assez spectaculaires ressortent de ce navet vésuvien, juste bon à entretenir une illusion de chaleur lors des longues soirées hivernales et à entretenir les bouffées d’optimisme d’humanistes fiévreux. En la matière, on préférera, dans un autre genre, les aventures tout feu tout flamme du Backdraft de Ron Howard, bien mieux mené et vachement moins con.

La critique (moins conne) de James Berardinelli(part1)
Volcano is one of those films (like last year's Twister and Independence Day) for which it doesn't matter what I (or any other critic) have to say. Disaster movie junkies will go to get their fix; those who can't tell the difference between The Towering Inferno and Die Hard will stay away. Still, the burning question is probably the most obvious one: Which is better, Volcano or Dante's Peak? Issues of credibility aside (both movies stray deeply into the preposterous, the former more often than the latter), there's no question whatsoever that Volcano makes for the better night out. In fact, this is one of the best pure disaster movies ever made (not that it has much competition). Congratulations to director Mick Jackson for a job well done.

From the opening credits, when the camera takes us through a crack in the earth to uncover the raging torrent of molten rock below, there's a sense that Volcano might actually live up to its pre-release hype. Once the credits are finished, the film adheres to the rigid, uncompromising structure embraced by nearly all disaster movies. The first few scenes introduce us to the major players. Next comes the buildup to the eruption -- thirty minutes of taut, well-paced anticipation. Then, exhibiting the flair and style of a master, Jackson uses tremendous visual effects, ear- popping digital sound, and a high-energy tension to usher in the coup de grace.

Character development fits into the "obligatory" category, but that's a significant improvement over what Twister offered. Here, we have Mike Roark (Tommy Lee Jones), the head of Los Angeles' Office of Emergency Management (OEM), who smells a disaster around every corner. When a mild earthquake (4.9 on the Richter Scale) shakes the city, he abandons a vacation with his thirteen-year old daughter (Gaby Hoffman) to come into work, uncertain how his second-in- command, Emmett Reese (Don Cheadle), will handle the situation on his own. Soon, however, strange things start happening. Several men working underground are scalded to death. The water temperature of a lake goes up by six degrees in twelve hours. And the La Brea tar pits begin to pop and bubble in earnest. Concerned that some geological cataclysm may be approaching, Roark requests the help of an expert.

He gets Dr. Amy Barnes (Anne Heche), who believes that L.A. could be sitting atop a volcano that's about to become active. In real life, I don't know anyone who believes that the residents of Los Angeles have anything to fear from volcanoes, but this film makes it very easy to suspend that particular disbelief. Not only is Volcano a hell of a ride, but the script has enough intelligence (relatively speaking, that is) that it's possible to become engrossed in the movie without constantly being jerked back to reality by stupid and obvious plot contrivances. Oh, there are missteps, such as an ill-conceived subplot about racial strife between a black youth and a white cop, but Volcano surprisingly manages to avoid many of the most common disaster movie pitfalls (probably because it keeps the number of major characters to a minimum).

La critique (moins conne) de James Berardinelli (fin)

Tommy Lee Jones' Roark is a wonderfully heroic figure -- a man of action who never has time to rest. The fate of the city rests on his shoulders, and he knows it. Jones' fierce, unflagging portrayal helps us accept Roark not only as the man to save L.A., but as a loving father who is more concerned about his daughter's safety than that of every other citizen. Anne Heche (Donnie Brasco), a young actress who has experienced quite a bit of recent exposure,offers a spunky interpretation of her sidekick-turned-love interest role. Don Cheadle (Rosewood) is in top form -- most of the film's comic moments revolve around him. The rest of the cast isn't nearly as impressive, but, since no one else has much screen time, any number of acting deficiencies can be forgiven.

All that most people want from a disaster movie is a jolt of adrenaline and a chance to "ooh" and "ahh", and Volcano fills both cravings. After all, there's a lot at stake -- this isn't some sleepy Northwestern town, it's the second most populous city in the United States (L.A. has suddenly become a favorite target of motion picture mayhem -- see Independence Day, Escape from L.A., and next year's Godzilla for other examples). The special effects are top-notch. When a lava river starts flowing down Wilshire Boulevard, we believe that it's actually happening.

Normally, I detest any voiceover narration, but Volcano manages to do something in that department to enhance the picture.Many scenes feature broadcast commentary by television stations reporting on the crisis. There's more than a hint of parody as correspondents react in horror to events around them while staying out of harm's way. Screenwriters Jerome Armstrong and Billy Ray should be commended for this aspect of their script -- it's right on target.

Volcano has opened the "summer" movie season at an astoundingly early late-April date. But there's no mistaking this as anything but a blockbuster trying to get a running jump on competition like The Fifth Element and The Lost World. This isn't the kind of film where it's worth waiting for the video tape -- it's too big and brash, and demands the speakers and atmosphere of a state-of-the-art theater. Like Twister, it pushes the cinematic experiencecloser to the level of an amusement park ride. However, unlike Twister, Volcano doesn't demand a complete short-circuit of all mental functions.

Although you see this film for the spectacle, the other stuff (characters, plot, etc.) doesn't get in the way, and that's the formula for success in this genre. Volcano triumphs with a resounding bang.***/****(3 sur 4...pas mal pour un soi disant "navet")

What America needs is a few good volcanic eruptions?(1)
Author: jpsaldibar from Colorado
19 August 2000

As a Big Budget movie, I'm sure that "Volcano" took more than a few months to make. Too bad someone associated with the movie didn't take that time to wander into the local library (the children's section, perhaps), and check out a book on "Volcanoes". I've seen Saturday-morning cartoons that have a better understanding of lava.

Instead we get many scenes of outright stupidity that would challenge even the densest of viewers. In one scene, Tommy Lee Jones and an assistant are standing near a volcanic vent, and their protective suits start to melt (of course skin is stronger than a protective suit, so they escape unharmed). But in numerous later scenes, people walk by lava like you might walk past a lake. Maybe this is because no one seems to know it's lava. I lost count of how many times a character said something like "What is that stuff?" or "There's something really hot and glowing coming down the street, and things are melting into it. Wonder what it could be?"

In what has to be one of the worst scenes ever filmed, two characters load an injured man onto the outstretched ladder of a hook & ladder truck. Then they hang onto a dangling fire hose as the ladder is lifted above the lava. The heat is so intense that the fire hose SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUSTS, but our characters are unhurt (their boots smoke a little). I didn't know that fire hoses were so flammable...

What America needs is a few good volcanic eruptions?(fin)

Author: jpsaldibar from Colorado
19 August 2000

But "Volcano"is not just a dumb disaster flick with bad science. No! It's also a Socially-Important Commentary on our Society Movie! Throughout the film there are numerous "social messages". These are so corny and contrived that they could only have been written by people who have never actually experienced them. A racist cop tries to arrest a guy for assault (in the middle of a disaster scene!), but then the two team up to help save the day. Aww. Later, a little kid notes that "everybody looks the same" when covered by ash and soot. Aww. America's racial troubles could be ended, if only a giant volcano threatened us all.

More? Oh sure, there's more! Tommy Lee Jones is the too-hard-working dad who comes to value his daughter. Said daughter is a selfish brat who learns some responsibility, and respect for her dad. There's a guy whose only role in the movie is to say obviously insulting things. This makes him the "bad guy". One can see the writers of this movie hammering his role out: "We need someone who's rich and yuppie-like and snooty. Someone like us, only not as enlightened.

Someone who wouldn't make a Socially-Important Commentary on our Society Movie like we are!" Of course, bad things happen to him and all is right with the world.In the end, the mysterious, glowing, sometimes-hot substance we come to know as "lava" is channeled into the sea, and all of LA lives happily ever after in a just and fair world. A world, of course, with a big smoking volcano plopped down into the middle of it. Certainly that won't affect the real estate values?the lessons of this movie are quite clear. 1) lava is harmless if you don't touch it; 2) small children will inevitably wander into incredible harm (but emerge OK), and 3) only through the trauma of sudden volcanic activity will we come to appreciate the true Brotherhood of Man.Whoever thought up this movie should be thrown into a volcano...