Inferno

Mediocre acting, enough sweat to keep RightGuard in business for decades and some of the most god-awful CGI effects in recent memory...and I'll watch it again just to see Stephanie Niznik in a sweaty t-shirt.

Plot holes galore [if the metal on the side of the building is hot enough that your wet hand sizzles when it touches, there shouldn't be a long lasting wet handprint left there, should there?]

Actually, the story wasn't that bad [loved the scene of the pile of dead birds "...just fell out of the sky this morning. Damndest thing I ever saw."] and the view of Southern Cali from space, cooking, was well done.

*** out of *****

Not again! A disaster/panic film taking place in West Coast US...What has LA done to deserve all these tragedies? Probably a lot. I had made a vow not to see this kind of movies since Volcano (1997). I don't know what got into my head...Volcano at least had some loud special effects which you could enjoy. This one doesn't even have that. As for the moral lessons, well forget it. Even a ten year old would laugh at it. You'll rather enjoy a re-run episode from The Simpsons.

I have lived in Los Angeles all my life so I like 90 degree days but over 140 degrees is too much even for me. That is what the story is about, surviving a very high temperature. There were little stories within the big picture. A doctor that lost his license but practicing again as the temperature goes up. A teacher turned soldier that never loses his sense of caring. A pair of bank robbers that get their "just deserts." The true hero in the film is General Craig Maxwell played by Daniel von Bargen that makes life and death decisions in trying to save a city from the terrors of melting ice. Can mankind survive 140 + degrees? Can this tiny planet ever be the same? The answers are will be on display as the planet takes a burning.

Incredibly stupid.

This could have become a good movie. The basic story IS good. Instead, it focuses on a few stereotypical characters that seem to come from a Donald Duck magazine. To continue the analogy with Disney, the crime-story in the movie is at the Mickey-Mouse level, and the metaphors and symbolism like in Three Little Pigs.

And they really tried to squeeze in everything: There is the Love Story, the man worried about his relatives, the bank robbery, the man-to-man-fight between soldiers &c.

Not to mention all the plot holes... A dangerous enemy to intelligence in your living-room. Hopefully, it's not contagious.

• And, of course, in the end, we have to say a prayer! May they never do this kind of movie again. Amen.

The film beginning is fairly good considering its a pretty standard TV disaster movie, however once things start to be fleshed out it rapidly becomes overwhelmed by characters and subplots that do more and more to distract from the movies positives ultimately leading to enough mismatches to flesh out 2 or even 3 different films...but which squeezed in to one just distracts and detracts from the enjoyment.

Watxch out for the stereotypes from the standard liberal but tough schoolteacher and the requisite gang banging brother of a dead gang member, a disgraced because he tried to do the right thing doctor and the lifeguard he befriends - who just happens to be the ex of the mad tow truck driver...etc etc...and apparently there was some army guys too...

Such is the poorly setup melodrama and the way the story concentrates more on these characters than the almost forgotten disaster of the impending 60c+ heatwave that any potential edge of the seat tension and drama is smoothed over and its difficult to even say there was any.

The question of who dies,who survives and how/why doesn't even come in to it by the end as there's too many by the book twists to put any flesh on the bones of any individuals or plots. I simply sat and watched each mini- story as a separate as there was no real immersive interplay or connection even when the characters had some supposed back story. Just mentally tick or cross them off as they go because in most cases you never seem to want to care enough to do more than count them in and count them out again. ... Surprisingly I did find Inferno quite likable, if rather forgettable, despite the lack of depth and annoying characters and multiple subplots. For a TV movie it fills the time effectively enough, however it just doesn't do enough to warrant a rewatching in a hurry.

Overall the SF was decent for its genre/budget - outside of the weird space fireball shots. The plot was driven along with enough energy to prevent sleep, though not enough to set the heart racing either. Characters, scenes and dialogue were very mixed and this is where the movie loses points, especially the way some characters seemed to be shoehorned in to the plot but without any redeemable features (The tow truck duo - I'm pointing at you!)

Overall this could have been polished up and had a reasonable score and with one or two less characters and subplots it may have made it...but no, I'm afraid as it stands:

5/10...