If you enjoy some shocking action sequences and you’re willing to turn your brain off during this absurd and laughable film, then maybe you’ll enjoy “2012,” directed by Roland Emmerich (“The Day After Tomorrow,” “Independence Day”).
Emmerich and co-writer Harald Kloser crafted this cliché ridden tale based on the Mayan doomsday prophecy, which predicts some sort of cataclysmic catastrophe coinciding with the Galactic Alignment and the end date of their Long Count calendar in 2012. In the film’s scenario, a polar shift occurs, causing increases in earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis on a global scale.
When the end starts to reveal itself, Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) and his family are somehow able to stay one step ahead of the impending doom. They literally out run, out drive and out fly every crumbling building, every crack in the earth and every fireball that drops from the sky.
In the meantime, government scientist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the U.S. President Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover) and his chief of staff, Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt) make plans to evacuate the elite into an enormous ark that’s been kept secret since 2009.
If it all sounds completely rediculous, well, that's probably because it is. Any attempt Emmerich and Kloser make at a real philosophical or religious debate, or a real story for that matter, is overshadowed by the excessive CGI and overblown action sequences.
The only redeeming quality of this film is Cusack and the rest of the ensemble cast. Cusack, as always, creates a likeable leading man in author Jackson Curtis, and Jackson’s connection with his ex-wife (Amanda Peet) and their two children offer the only real emotional depth in this otherwise detached film.
Woody Harrelson, as a deranged fanatic, chews up the scenery quite nicely and offers at least a few moments of thought and comic relief. Thandie Newton plays the president’s daughter, and while she almost always gives an incredible performance, she’s forced to utter some truly atrocious dialogue and is almost unwatchable at times.
As enjoyable as some of the actors are to watch, ultimately, inquisitive minds will be disappointed with this brainless scenario. If smart action movies like “Blade Runner,” “28 Days Later,” and “Braveheart” can get made, why are audiences not demanding more like these?
With all the debates, books, theories, and documentaries floating around on the 2012 topic, this could have and should have been a much more thought-provoking movie. But after all, this is a film by the director of the implausible “The Day After Tomorrow” so what more could we expect?
DIRECTOR: Roland Emmerich SCREENWRITERS: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser PRODUCERS: Ute Emmerich, Mark Gordon, Michael Wimer CAST: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor MPAA RATING: PG-13