Meteor Assault

Initially when you sit down to watch a natural disaster movie, chances are quite high that you will be in for something generic, low budget and boring. But still, there is something oddly bizarre about this type of movies that is alluring.

Meteor Assault (aka "Asteroid: Final Impact" as it was named on the DVD I found) turned out to be yet another generic and less than thrilling natural disaster movies that are readily available. So you know what you will get here.

The special effects in the movie, while they were present, were just anything but impressive. Did they serve their purpose? Certainly. But they were just not overly interesting, impressive or captivating. And it turned out to be actually just another mass-produced disaster movie not unlike the majority in the genre.

This movie follows the stereotypical blueprint of how to make a disaster movie. Some huge natural disaster threatens to put mankind to extinction, and a small group of people take action and manages to save the entire world at the very last moment. Yep, it is exactly that formula that "Meteor Assault" follows.

As for the acting in the movie, well let's just leave it at that you know exactly what you are getting, and the standards for these movies is also what you can expect.

I do enjoy disaster movies, just a shame that most of the movies made in the genre are less than mediocre. and "Meteor Assault" turned out to be yet just another of those movies. So there is nothing interesting to be had here.

There really isn't very much to say about this film. I feel like I've reviewed it already in one of my reviews of at least a dozen other cheesy low budget disaster movies. Take, for example, the other films of director Jason Bourque, including STONADOS, DOOMSDAY PROPHECY, and SEATTLE SUPERSTORM. Those three and this one are so similar that it's as if Bourque is spending his life remaking the same movie.

Anyway, you know the score by now and if you don't, well, my recommendation is to avoid like the plague. Meteorites are striking Earth and laying waste to various global landmarks, and only a renegade scientist has the knowledge or know-how to stop the attacks. There's a whole lot of running around, some scientific mumbo-jumbo talk, and lots of cheesy CGI scenes of meteorite strikes.

The first thing that becomes apparent is that ASTEROID: FINAL IMPACT has little to do with asteroids, and the original title, METEOR ASSAULT, was a much better fit. The second thing is that this is a Canadian movie, so perhaps even cheaper than its contemporaries. The third is that there are no 'guest name' actors here, unless you include Lochlyn Munro (UNFORGIVEN), and I don't. It's not worth bothering with, anyway.

Funny that this kind of movie still exists. What do you do when you have a microscopical budget in comparison to big budget Hollywood flicks. You can try to stand out with an original story or approach, some experimental cinematography, a strong performance by a yet unknown actor,... Or you can try to copy Hollywood and make a movie that gives you small samples of a possibly ok CGI finale to a mediocre story portrayed by untalented actors filling the gaps with an overload of uninspired dialogue that results into a huge disappointment. Somehow this crap is still being made and thus being profitable.

This film starts off a sound disaster movie with the said asteroid of the title disappearing. When astrophysicist Steve Thomas (Mark Lutz) wants to use his asteroid tracking site to find the missing rock he finds it's now being used by the military to spy on the populace. After he blows the whistle he loses his job, his reputation, and friends. Then after a deadly meteor storm hits America he comes to realise theirs greater issues at hand. The missing rock has become a dark asteroid, which is undetectable by normal technology, only Thomas' satellite will be able to see it. However, things only get worse as it may be indestructible also.

This, for the most part, is a respectfully written, directed, and acted film. Daniel Winters creates a nice story of distrust and the consequences of one's actions, even when they are the in the right. The actors do a good job of bringing the characters to life and generating a believable universe. While the director, Jason Bourque, keeps the pace fluctuating in all the right scenes to create excitement. The special effects or decent, though nothing ground-breaking, they are used well and to their greatest potential to strengthen the story and film.

Unfortunately, and it's a big unfortunately, the ending lets the story down to the point of breaking the believability and leaving the viewing audience feeling cheated. It feels rushed, crude, and childish, which is a shame as with a better and more reasonable and realistic outcome this film could have been a rare thing - a TV movie which breaks out of the average mould.

So if you like disaster movies this may be worth watching as long as you remember that the ending needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. If bad movies bring a smile to your face when something incredibly awful and silly happens then the finale should bring a smile to your lips as it did mine; if not then stay away from the film.

There are good disaster movies far better than this one. Some familiar faces from Hallmark (Canadian) movies though. Most of the actors were overacting making it seem laughable at times, especially FBI agent Jenkins, who I think they were trying to make her come off as trying to look & be a JLo wanna be, was terrible!!

Save yourself and avoid this disaster...