Good news! This movie is not bad. Seriously... I went to see this movie particularly because every one in the media said this was beyond awful. The second flop of the summer. So I did the sensible thing and grabbed a couple of friends. Although I had to bribe them with free tickets because they wouldn't volunteer otherwise. I figured if I'm going to attend an airplane crash I'll need witnesses. So I made the investment. And guess what? This movie wasn't bad at all! My one friend said the movie had nothing to do with the promotional efforts out there. While the other said he loved the action. Personally, I thought it was a simply good popcorn movie. The issue with this movie falling below expectations might be that disease that has plagued a lot of super expensive Hollywood movies for a decade now. The marketing for the film set the bar so high that it was impossible to find it pleasing. I understand the studio accountants have to justify the expense and push that thing out there hard. But the reason why all three of us enjoyed this movie is exactly the opposite reason: We expected nothing of it... Perhaps this is what Hollywood oughtta take a page from. Let some projects fly a bit more on their own and they fly farther. As far as the movie's own merits. The acting was a job well done by everyone. The characters were written vacuous enough to fulfill their action movie gig. Not much else was expected from them, and they delivered well. Sometimes acting is best served sushi style. Raw and simple. The plot was clear from the get go. You know where it's headed and expect to get there as all big Hollywood movies do. Blowing stuff up. And the explosions looked awesome. The special effects were amazing. I was hoping more aliens would show up. Blow up those suckers again! There were a couple of surprise turns sprinkled here and there just to keep my eyes away from the pop corn but not enough to complicate things. The biggest one being the old crew in the museum boat. Maybe they did take it a bit into the hokey lane with that one. But, let's face it, old folks buy tickets too, and what would be a Hollywood blockbuster without a little camp in it?