Monday, December 14, 2009

2012

Director Roland Emmerich's supposed final disaster movie, 2012, follows the mythical belief that the Mayan's predicted that the world will end on December 21, 2012.

Before we get to the film, it should be noted that the Mayan's did not believe the end of the world would happen on this date at all. The fear/prediction came from freaked out Westerners.

2012 stars John Cusack as author Jackson Curtis (get this, he is named after 50 Cent whose real name is Curtis Jackson). Jackson and his wife, Kate (Amanda Peet) are divorced with two kids.

Jackson takes their kids on a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park.

Meanwhile, back in 2009, scientist Adrien Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) informs the President (Danny Glover) of the impending doom. This gives the nations of the world 3 years to build ships to survive the coming end of the world.

Jackson and his family flee the destruction of California, and hitch a ride with a Russian billionaire and his sons.

Flash to scenes with the President and the destruction, flash to another story about two old men on a cruise ship, flash back to Jackson and his family.

This is Emmerich's way of giving us an intimate/emotional connection amongst the global end.

Jackson learns that the leaders of the countries have been building Arks in the mountains of China, so it's a race to the big boats before the big waves crash into them.


The moral of this movie is: if you want to survive the end of the world you need to have 1 Billion Euros or be closely attached to the leader of a country. Everyone else is doomed. So sorry. And it's not even the end of the world; the planet survives. I was hoping to see ultimate extinction ala Vulcan on the new Star Trek movie.

2012 is a heart-racing thriller. It's a fun, popcorn flick. Don't expect any Oscars though. While it's global destruction is on a new level, I found the special effects to be lacking. When an aircraft carrier tumbles into the White House, you can totally tell it's a miniature.

3 1/2 stars out of 5 for 2012.


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