2012 (2009)

2012 (2009)

Tagline: We Were Warned

(Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi) [PG-13]

They're building spaceships, man.

For this review, we are looking at the 2012 film directed by Roland Emmerich, not the German 2012 film that came out the same year. 

If Roland Emmerich is the king of something, it’s probably the king of disaster. Not that all his films are disasters, but that most of his big movies have to do with some sort of massive destruction on a worldwide scale. 2012 is no exception. In this one, the earth is melting from the inside out causing massive tectonic plate shifts all over the earth. The bulk of the film focuses on writer Jackson Curtis (played by John Cusack best known for SAY ANYTHING) who is trying to find out how to get his family to safety. We also have Dr. Adrian Helmsley (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor best known for DOCTOR STRANGE) who is part of a geophysical organization whose predictions based on evidence, are shifting the timeline on which the world has to coordinate the survival of mankind. Can’t we all just get along, or will only the rich survive the end of the world?

This is another one of those movies that is long but doesn’t feel long. Within about the first 30 minutes Emmerich hooks you in with interesting characters and people we either don’t care about or do care about and really want them to make it. It also helps that massive over the top incredible effects are abound in this thing. In fact, out of all of Emmerich’s movies, this one is probably the most nuts when it comes to crazy world-ending city-destroying effects. Cinematically this thing is a gem.

We also get strong performances out of everyone including the legendary Danny Glover (as President Thomas Wilson), his daughter Laura Wilson (played by Thandiwe Newton). Woody Harrelson is particularly nuts but solid, as suicidal and mostly correct conspiracy expert Charlie Frost. Even Johann Urb (known for RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION) is good in this as Sasha (kind of a muscle guy for Yuri Karpov in the film). 

I don’t want to say that 2012 is a perfect movie, just that it’s a very good one. I would promote watching it at least once every 5 years or so. Unless you live in North Korea where the movie is banned. In real life at least one extremely famous politician predicts the end of the world in about 9 years, 7 months, and 1 day from the writing of this review (precisely on Tuesday, January 21, 2031, so that should mean you will get to see this puppy at least twice if you watch it once now and again in 5 years. I think that Rolland goofed up GODZILLA, but man he crushed it with this movie in the direction department. Where this movie fails just on the most basic level is probably in the last 30 minutes or so. Unlike GREENLAND, this movie really takes a long time to wrap up in an area where I think they could have cut, and fails to expand in an area where I would have liked to see more of how it panned out. 

None of this is worth giving this movie any less than a 6 out of 7. One reason it lands at a 6 and not a 7 for me is the fact that it’s an end of the world movie. “Gather around and watch the world end 4 or 5 times a year” is not exactly a fun-filled movie-going experience as much as they tried to keep this thing very “shrink in Beverly Hills, you know the one, Dr. Everything'll-Be-Alright”. Another reason for the score, is that there seem to be a few too many “wrap it up in a little bow” moments which actually detract from the human stories of the main characters.

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