Deep Impact

Weepy Foolishness

The initial impression that Deep Impact would have some interesting science to it was marred by some early technical mistakes. As the movie progressed, it became clear that the intention was to draw tears by force. Just about every character is developed just enough to make it sad when they're killed off. I was crying at the end, but I hated it, because nothing the characters had done deserved it.

To its credit, the movie makes some effort to examine the ethical questions raised by the pending destruction of most of the earth. To its detriment, it introduces about a dozen characters who each get to waste precious screen time tearfully reconciling, final farewelling, self-sacrificing, and occasionally maturing. The penultimate stretch of the movie is an endurance test, as every significant character does their best to elicit tears. The ultimate stretch, the best part, is watching the enormous tidal waves rushing ashore.

Nitpicking

I will give some credit for the movie's attempt to bring in computers. All points were lost, though, with how badly they were used. A employee of MSNBC is shown using a web browser other than Internet Explorer. Yeah, right! Even worse, a floppy disk is in a car that crashes so badly that the cleanup crew can't tell how many bodies were in the car, but they read both the label on the floppy and its contents. That's one amazing floppy! There's also a fantasy search engine that produces impossibly useful results. That's just unforgivable!