Start stocking up on canned Spam and bottled water, because the end of the world is coming.
Director Roland Emmerich, the director who gave audiences films like The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, continues to dominate the market of disaster movies. 2012 is a thrill-driven spectacle of epic proportions.
Emmerich is not trying to make Oscar-winning films. He makes over-the-top, big-budget blockbusters that kill at the box office.
The movie centers on Jackson Curtis (John Cusack, Martian Child), an obsessive writer whose pre-occupation with his book has cost him his marriage to his ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet, What Doesn't Kill You) and estranged him from his two children.
While camping in Yellowstone Park with his children, Jackson meets Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson, Zombieland), a conspiracy theorist that tips him off to the possibility that the end of the world is imminent.
Due to a series of natural phenomena, the earth begins to fall apart as predicted by the ancient Mayan calendar. Jackson and his family must struggle to survive the disaster and try to find a way to escape and save the world.
The special effects are, of course, the driving force of this film and are worth the price of admission alone. Audiences will undoubtedly expect to see the earth being demolished by earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis – and they won't be disappointed.
The best scene of the movie is, hands down, the California earthquake scene. The audience is taken on an insane, albeit unrealistic, ride through California as it is literally ripped apart.
Remember when Emmerich blew up the White House in Independence Day? This is better.
The acting is actually decent in 2012, though no one usually expects that from an action film.
Cusack does a good job of creating a hero that audiences can identify with. Really, has he ever done a film where he wasn't likeable? His charm and sarcastic humor make him a good leading man and his screen time is enjoyable.
Peet is decent, although her character really doesn't bring much to the table. She is basically there to be Cusack's romantic interest.
Harrelson is hilarious (as usual) as the comic relief of the film. He plays a Christian radio host with a penchant for pickles and government cover-ups. He gets away with being ridiculously over-the-top because his character is really just plain bonkers. He doesn't have much screen time, but he steals every scene he is in.
The film also contains many of the clichéd moments that are to be expected from big disaster flicks. There are the 'I just want to tell you that I love you before we all die' scenes; the 'let's escape just in the nick of time' scenes, and of course, the obligatory inspirational speeches when it seems like all hope is lost.
There is nothing subtle about this film. Everything is done on a grand scale. What the film lacks in depth, it makes up for in sheer might.
Even the running time, at 158 minutes, is grandiose. Thankfully, due to the fast-paced nature and sensory overload, the time doesn't drag.
2012 has everything that a blockbuster epic needs. It's a cheesy, ridiculous tearjerker filled with an insane amount of explosions and destruction. It's incredibly entertaining. What more could a viewer ask for?
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