My kitchen book right now--IE, the book I read in the kitchen, usually while microwaving something--is the novelization of THE CORE, and every time I turn the page, I am grateful once again for the existence of @jonrog1 and this movie.

Is the science bad? No. That implies some relationship to actual science. The science is transcendentally awful. The science makes cartoon physics look balanced and realistic. This is the science that bad science beats up on the playground.

But it's SINCERE and it's FUN, and unlike all the movies (THE CRAZIES, RESIDENT EVIL 2, CONTAINMENT, CARRIERS) glorifying defiance of quarantine, it's not likely to inspire anyone to drive a VW bus to the center of the Earth. It does no harm. It brings joy.