2012

Disaster porn aficionado, Roland Emmerich, is back again with yet another scenario in which the world gets blown up.  Like his 2004 film The Day After Tomorrow, Earth is destroying itself and everyone on it.

Inspired by the supposed Mayan prediction that the planet's expiration date is December 21, 2012, the film offers up the normal pseudo-science explanation of what's about to occur and then launches into what the film does best - have ordinary people survive incredible situations in incredibly unlikely ways as the Earth is rent asunder.

John Cusack is Atlantian novel writer Jackson Curtis who just happens to find out about the right things at the right time in order to try to save his family from impending doom.  He, with his ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet), her new man Gordon (the ever annoying Thomas McCarthy), and his two children Lily (Morgan Lily) and Shawn Noah (Liam James) jump from one impossible scenario to another, somehow making it out alive each time.  It is here that I must say, Atlantis and Noah?  They went there, really?  Guided by a map provided by a highly entertaining Woody Harrelson, they hitch a ride with some stereotypical Russians and head to China where they hope to find safety.  Ironic, no?

In the meantime, we're also treated to the drama of a political side plot with the President (Danny Glover), his daughter (Thandie Newton), and the seemingly only scientist capable of knowing what's going on (Chiwetel Ejiofor).

For a movie so reliant on the world exploding dramatically I was surprised by two things.  The first was that there was actually some thought put into what was going on besides volcanoes, floods, and earthquakes.  The second was that those three arguable stars of the show where, on occasion, a decade behind in realism.  It's hard to be concerned about those flying lava rocks behind John Cusack when there is obviously nothing but a bright green wall behind him.  That, and do you really think they're going to kill off John Cusack like that?

One thing refreshing about this story was the fact that little to no time was spent on the brilliant scientist that no one would listen to until it was too late.  It's about what happened in the three years leading up to the cataclysmic event that all the important people knew was going to happen thanks to the brilliant scientist.  I would argue that the best part of the movie was Woody Harrelson's character with pickels and Pabst and I was disappointed we didn't get to see more of him.  The rest of the characters all hit their cues where they needed to, but there were no award worthy performances here.

Emmerich has an obvious message in pretty much all of his films and this one is "Don't take the planet for granted, it can **** you up."  One has to wonder if he puts stake in the 2012 prediction - why else wouldn't he have waited a couple more years to release this?

It was an entertaining flick with a few interesting points and I would recommend it for the next time you're looking for a long movie that's mostly exciting and easy to digest.  Good couch potato material.

*** (3/5 stars)