Right, another fabulous disaster movie, where the Earth is at the brink of extinction, and yet is miraculously saved by a group of very unlikely American heroes...
Yes, that is what I thought as well when I sat down to watch "Earth's Final Hours". And I was right, as this movie turned out to be every bit just that.
"Earth's Final Hours" follows the shamelessly abused blueprint of how-to-make-a-generic-disaster-movie, true! However, it does manage to lift itself up and out of the mediocrity that tends to permeate the disaster movie genre. There just was something a bit more enjoyable and watchable to "Earth's Final Hours".
The story, well, it can be summarized fairly easy. Actually, just read my opening statement, and you have the entire movie summarized right there.
It was the fast pace of the movie and the progression of the storyline that actually made "Earth's Final Hours" stand out where many other disaster movies failed and sunk deep into mediocrity. But also the acting performances, as they weren't as generic and mediocre as they tend to be in this genre.
As for the special effects, well let's just say that they had CGI special effects and that these effects served their purpose well enough. However, it is not effects that will blow you away or leave you impressed in any way. So don't get your hopes up.
I was actually quite surprised with the performance that Robert Knepper put on in "Earth's Final Hours", because he really carried the movie quite nicely. And it was also nice to see Bruce Davison here as well, although his character was a very generic one to say the least - not saying that his performance was generic, just the character.
"Earth's Final Hours" is not the best of disaster movies, it is nowhere near the likes of "2012" or "San Andreas" in terms of CGI and entertainment where you just sit back and enjoy the effects. However, it did distinguish itself from many other generic disaster movies.
If you enjoy the disaster movie genre, and if you have nothing better to do or to watch, then take the time to watch "Earth's Final Hours". I was actually quite entertained by it.