Hollywood blockbusters predicated on the end of the world aren’t required to make a lick of sense – as proven by NASA using Michael Bay’s Armageddon as a training tool based solely on its volume of inaccuracies – but it’s hard to think of many that have been outright dumber than 2003’s The Core.
We should point out that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing; director Jon Amiel’s preposterous journey to the center of the earth has gained something of a reputation for being an unabashedly entertaining romp that provides a fitful flight of fancy if you’ve got your brain tuned to the correct wavelength to get the most out of it.
That being said, it’s hard to tell if the tone was settled on deliberately, or if The Core carved out a niche for itself by way of being so unintentionally hilarious that the $85 million apocalyptic epic ended up completely accidentally planting its tongue firmly in cheek. Even after 20 years it remains hard to tell, largely because the talented cast plays things with a completely straight face.
Wherever the truth may lie, the fact a Reddit thread marking two decades since the film’s release is mostly populated by praise for its delightfully silly nature has underlined that just because an effects-laden extravaganza bombs at the box office and finds itself roundly trashed by critics on virtually every level, it doesn’t mean it can be viewed as an unmitigated failure.
Sure, it definitely is by any measurable metrics used to define a hit, but The Core endures for its sheer unbridled ridiculousness, which is as good a reason as any to fire it up and give it another whirl. Just make sure you set your expectations low, because that’s about the only way they’ll be exceeded.