This movie had a lot of assumptions made about it, good and bad, from people all over the country before it even ran a single frame. The director, Roland Emmerich, is responsible for such summer blockbuster fare as Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, and the awesomely bad Godzilla. He has earned a reputation of being the “Master of Disaster”, and unfortunately most of his movies have not been well received. This movie also tackles the somewhat controversial idea that the world is going to end in the year 2012. It does however, feature some of the most spectacular visual effects ever put on screen, showing us images that are almost completely overwhelming. So while I think the world can agree that this one’s not going to win any Oscars anytime soon, it’s also going to be an awesome ride.
So let me just start by saying that I LOVED Independence Day. It still stands as one of my favorite movies of all time. That’s just my type of movie, I really dig the disaster genre and so can usually look the other way on the fact that some of them are very poorly made (I’m looking at you The Day After Tomorrow and The Core). But I really do think that this is one of the better ones, certainly Emmerich’s best since Independence Day. The plot is incredibly simple, the world is ending. There is some glazed over semi-scientific explanation that I know wouldn’t hold up to even a Jr. High level science class. We see the bulk of the destruction through the eyes of John Cusack who plays the sterotype divorced guy who’s trying to build some sort of relationship with his kids while his ex-wife is happily living with some boring guy who happens to be great with kids. We find that the government has, of course, seen this disaster coming for a few years and has developed some sort of plan to save as many people as possible. This plan comes complete with the charming scientist who is the moral center of the universe and the stuck up government stooge who thinks he knows what’s best for the entire human race. There’s a hilarious cameo by Woody Harrelson as the conspiracy theorist hippie who sees it all coming but ends up getting baked (by lava, what were you thinking?) Oh, and the President of the United States is played by Danny Glover, how awesome is that?
So the stage is set, and before you know it the explosions begin. The idea is that the Earth is basically being cooked by solar flares, so we first see an increasing number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The first target of course is California and we see one of the most amazing scenes of destruction ever put on film. It literally looks as if the planet simply opens up and swallows Los Angeles completely. For anyone who enjoys seeing the incredible and unbelievable, this is a visual feast for the eyes. For the next hour and a half, we get treated to more mayhem including Washington DC being crushed by a tidal wave, the eruption of the Super-Volcano in Yellowstone Park, and the flooding of the Himalayas. All the while John Cusack and his family narrowly escape death at every turn. The ending does disappoint me a little as they don’t cash in on the seemingly obvious and slightly more awesome way to wrap things up. I don’t want to spoil anything though, so you can ask me on Facebook if you want more thoughts.
All in all, I had a lot of fun in this movie. Let me be clear, it is not a high-class piece of art. It’s sheer popcorn, but sometimes I love me some popcorn. The dialogue is pretty bad, it takes itself just seriously enough to give you some emotional investment. But you don’t want to invest in some characters too much, because you never know who’s going to be the next to fall into an earthquake or get swallowed by lava. 2012 relies on all the well tread formulas and stereotypes that you want to see in a movie like this. A lot of the characters are pretty weak and their relationships seem a bit forced, but you simply don’t have time with everything else going on to focus on a budding romance or a subtle interaction between a father and a daughter. But let’s face it; you’re not going to see 2012 for the characters. It honestly would’ve been a perfectly good movie without any real characters at all, just lots of action and explosions. It’s certainly not for everyone, but judging by the $300 million it pulled in on it’s opening weekend alone, plenty of people are enjoying the end of the world.
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