Leofwine_draca
DESTRUCTION: LAS VEGAS is a particularly stupid disaster-themed TV movie featuring a starring role for an all-grown-up Frankie Muniz, star of TV's MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE. This one sees a whole group of youthful idiots heading off for a fun weekend in Vegas, only to accidentally unleash an ancient Egyptian curse when they get their hands on a magic sword. It's as dumb as it sounds, chock full of particularly bad CGI sandstorm effects and some remarkably bad acting. The only fun comes from a scenery-chewing Barry Bostwick in support and brief, random cameos from Joe Dante and John Landis.
TheLittleSongbird
There has definitely been worse movies on the SyFy Channel, and Blast Vegas- or Destruction: Las Vegas- is one of those movies that you should try to watch without expecting too much or take it for what it is. Unfortunately even when trying to do that, Blast Vegas came off as a real mess. Barry Bostwick is okay and at least he tries to have some fun, and the attack in the underground parking does have some excitement and tension. The rest of the acting is very bad though, Joe Dante and John Landis are wasted in literally irrelevant cameo appearances and Frankie Muniz's lead performance is both uncharismatic and charmless. With the characters they are so cardboard and poorly developed you cannot root for any of them and some even do things that are infuriatingly ridiculous. The dialogue has no spark either, it's either very bland, it's very shallow-sounding throughout, or too reliant on the silliness, and sadly the silliness is not fresh or witty enough to be effective. The story has one good scene amongst the numerous but soulless action sequences, dull pacing, disaster scenes that lack any kind tension or sense of danger(not helped by that the characters show no signs of being genuinely concerned about what's happening) and dramatic scenes that are frankly predictable and ham-fisted. The movie is not cheaply made- well apart from the special effects which look hurried and poorly textured- but shows no sense of style, and the direction is similarly characterless. The music plays too much of a dirge and isn't memorable enough in the slightest, at no point either does it do anything to enhance what's happening. In conclusion, has a couple of redeeming merits but a very. very bad movie that is really bland with no character, energy or soul. 2/10 for Bostwick and one good sequence. Bethany Cox
Paul Magne Haakonsen
Another SyFy Channel movie bites the dust... uhm, I mean sand.Wow, this movie was really, really cheesy and bad. Sure, this is a SyFy Channel movie, but still I gave it a chance. You know, it could just happen to be one of those rare SyFy Channel gems that actually entertain and prove to be watchable. However, such was not the case.The story in "Blast Vegas" is about an old ancient Egyptian curse striking down upon Las Vegas, with a blistering sand storm, threatening to kill all people in Las Vegas. And of course it is up to a handful of college kids on spring break to stop this supernatural curse.Indeed, the storyline was just laughable and nowhere resembled anything that had any purpose whatsoever. There is simply no fun or entertainment to be found in this movie.The CGI effects were bad, pretty bad. Especially because there were so many flaws and errors in them. For instance, a massive sandstorm blasts Las Vegas for a long time, yet there is no single layers of sand to be seen anywhere. And people venturing openly into this sandstorm have no problems having their eyes wide open - no sand gets into them, and then need not even shield their eyes from the stinging sand. Right, very nice touch right there.And I just laughed so hard when the group was in the bowling alley. There were debris cluttering the desks, but nothing on the floor. But it gets better, if you pay attention to the background, all pins on the bowling lanes are still standing erect.One thing also comes to mind, why would a Las Vegas casino have a thousand year old sword lying around where anyone could just pick it up, take it and leave with it? This was just idiotic.Also, after a prolonged and constant blasting of a sandstorm in Las Vegas, you'd think cars and people would be off the streets, as surely there have been some kind of emergency broadcasting issued. But no, as the storm continued to roll across the city - without leaving anything covered in sand, mind you - there is still a lot of traffic on the roads.The storyline in "Blast Vegas" is irrelevant and pointless to say the least, and you never really think that there is any overwhelming danger in any way threatening the people in the movie or the city.The one good thing about this movie was the acting. It was sort of spoofy and held in a very low budget B-movie style. Intentionally, or just because even the actors didn't buy into this storyline and script, well, who knows? Some things are meant to remain buried underneath the sands of time, as is the case with this movie.
Michael O'Keefe
SyFy cranks out another bomb. A gaggle of friends attack Las Vegas for Spring Break; on the agenda is getting nerd Nelson(Frankie Muniz)laid. One of Nelson's dimwit friends steals an ancient Egyptian sword on display mocking the warning of a curse. Nelson strikes up a friendship with a plain looking girl named Olive(Maggie Castle)and it is nerd love at first sight. Uh Oh, the curse kicks in and the city that never sleeps becomes ground zero for an unusual sand storm fueled by massive tornadoes with hurricane-like winds. Nelson and Olive realize what is happening and discover the way to stop Vegas from being blown off the map. The group of friends gather to hunt for key elements to stop the curse. Good thing that legendary lounge lizard Sal Rowinski(Barry Bostwick)is willing to show the Spring Breakers shortcuts through underground tunnels to find the way to keep the bright lights of Vegas from going out forever. Lame as lame can be. SyFy's gamble on this one craps out quickly. The special effects don't do anything to redeem the silly script. Other members of the cast: Jillian Nelson, Summer Bishil, Andrew Lawrence, Adam Walker with cameos by Jon Landis and Joe Dante.