Disclosure: I received a free copy of the film for review.
Most people will be aware of Roland Emmerich’s films even if they haven’t seen them. They include the likes of Independance Day, The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla, Universal Soldier and, along with Dean Devlin, he is credited with re-launching the Sci-Fi genre with 1994′s Stargate. Generally you’d have to say that his films don’t get much critical praise, but they’re generally big budget effects bonanzas and I’m betting you’ve heard of more than a few.
So we come to 2012. The premise is fairly simple: the end of the world is coming in 2012. This is based on some interpretations of a cycle in the Mayan calendar finishing on the 21st December 2012 and with it comes the end of days. The film spends a fair bit of time spent explaining the technical details of how and why as well as some background on what the legend of 2012 is.
Spoiler warning: spoilers ahead.
The story is primarily told by following two protagonists: Dr Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who is one of the first to learn of the impending disaster and Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), a normal divorced dad who, with his family, happens to end up fairly deep in the race for survival. Dr Helmsley heads up a team of scientists who, are trying to monitor and prepare for the cataclysmic events that are to come along with various world leaders. Jackson gets into events by being in the right place at the right time and making a lot of lucky escapes.
The parallels with Emmerich’s previous work are fairly plain to see. The links with the White House, the brilliant scientist and the escape on Air Force One all echo back to Independance Day. The scientific discoveries, geophysical forces and impending global disaster are similar to The Day After Tomorrow.
As with most movies, the science is completely stupid (I know enough geology to understand most of the stuff on plate tectonics and melting the core is not possible) and I’ve subsequently read enough about the prediction of 2012 to know that most sane people consider it to have no merit.
As for character development, Ejiofor’s character seems to be present purely to explain the science and serve as a moral compass while Cusack and co. tilt from one impending disaster to the next with each escape more improbably than the last. There are a few lame attempts at showing how they struggle to keep their humanity in the bitter struggle for survival, but it’s a token effort. The character who steals the show is Woody Harrelson’s trippy conspiracy nut who’s camped out in Yellowstone Park waiting for the big one.
So it lacks meaty plot and realistic characters, but that’s missing the point. They all serve one purpose: to provide an excuse for a series of jaw-dropping special effects disasters. You’ve got everything from Yellowstone’s super-volcano erupting to earthquakes, to landmasses sliding into the sea to tidal waves higher than mountain ranges wiping out all before them. This isn’t a movie about story, it’s a movie about spectacle.
I was lucky enough to watch it on Blu-ray on a big screen and that’s where the effects really shine. This is a disaster movie on an epic scale. There are different ways to approach them, which I generally sum up as Armageddon vs Deep Impact. The former chucks the science for the OTT character melodrama, the latter tries to stay more faithful and bend rather than break the scientific laws. 2012 falls into the latter category.
If you’re looking for some meaty character-led action, this isn’t it, but if you’re prepared to go along for the ride it’s a great spectacle and an enjoyable, if forgettable, film.
Check out the trailer on YouTube here.
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
