1997 / 108m - USA
Adventure, Thriller
2.5*/5.0*
Dante's Peak poster

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October 06, 2020

2.5*/5.0*

A solid, but predictable disaster flick. Dante's Peak does little to deviate from the template, instead it hopes that the appeal of Brosnan and some first-rate CG effects are enough to keep audiences glued to the screen. And for the most part that bet paid off, as Dante's Peak turned out to be an enjoyable flick.

As with most of these disaster films, I like the setup better than the actual disaster. Donaldson does a good job with that. He doesn't drag things out, still he takes time to create a feeling of unease. The second half is entirely dedicated to the eruption, which was a little less impressive than I remembered.

The best thing about this film is that it stayed below the 110-minute mark. The pacing is slick, the genre payoffs are decent and even though it gets a bit too cheesy, the film never stays too long at one single point for it to become a problem. Not exactly great cinema, but a pleasant film nonetheless.