2012 was released on Nov 13, directed by Roland Emmerich and written
by Roland & Harald Klower. The movie is 158 min of exactly what
you may predict, the end of the known world. Loosely based on
the Mayan b'ak'tun, when the Mayan calendar expires on Dec. 21,
2012 the sun will align with the center of the Milky Way on the
winter solstice, which only happens every 25,800 yrs. There are
many theories that have been added to this event like: the end
of world, a 5th attempt at creation, poles shifting, and/or a
new Ice age. You pick it, it's already been theorized. If you
combine Deep Impact, Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow, and a
few other disaster movies you will get the feel for what you are
about to watch. It's very fast paced movie, from the first big
earthquake to the very end. Also, I thought it was too vivid and
graphic for a pg-13; the people and the carnage look very real.
I also thought I heard a muffled F-bomb, FYI. With that let's
get shakin'.
The movie begins in 2009, where geologist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwete Ejiofor) meets Dr. Satnam Tsurutani (Jimi Mistry) in India after an incredible solar event puts out more neutrinos than usual; normally neutrinos don't affect the earth, but this large amount has started heating the earth's core far above normal. Adrian flies to DC and presents these findings to the Chief of Staff, Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt). They in turn go to the President of the United States, Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover), who I think is supposed to be Barrack Obama. (Valkor's Note: Uhhhhhhhh there have been other black actors who have played presidents before, namely Tiny Lister Jr. in "The Fifth Element and Morgan Freeman in "Deep Impact") They soon start a massive project that is kept top secret.
SPOILER ALERT: SKIP TO THE END OF THE PARAGRAPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In 2010, the president approaches the world leaders at the 36th G8 summit and gives them the news. From that point you can see the progress from 2010 – 2012 of the project. That brings us to 2012, where we meet Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), who is a writer for the LA times and also drives a limo on the side for a Russian billionaire, Yuri Karpov (Zlatko Buric). It's very apparent that Jackson doesn't have his life together, he is divorced and has two children Noah (Liam James) & Lilly (Morgan Lily) who stay with their mother Kate (Amanda Peet) and her boyfriend Gordon Silberman (Tom McCarthy), who is a plastic surgeon, amateur pilot, and a nice guy. Picking the kids up at Gordon's house, Jackson decides to take them to Yellowstone National Park for a camping weekend. There he meets Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson, btw he plays an excellent nutcase.), a conspiracy theorist who voices himself on the radio, also Jackson listens to him while doing his limo gig. They have a small conversation, a few beers and Charlie mentions that he has a map to this top secret experiment. Charlie believes that Yellowstone national park will be the epicenter of the beginning of the end. All this time minor tremors and cracks start appearing throughout the city. While Kate and Gordon are out shopping one of these cracks tears the supermarket in half. They call Jackson to have the kids come home immediately. Jackson does so. Once back he gets a call from Yuri to use the limo to pick up his kids and take them to the airport. He races to Gordon's house and then an earthquake starts tearing the neighborhood apart. Jackson Races to get them out and now begins the race against the event horizon. The destruction and chaos is too much to describe. Just be ready for a whole bunch of "Oh, Shit!!!"
The Good:
It has enough destruction and chaos for two movies. The CGI is very detailed and the sound was great. The things that occur are based on some science theories, so it's not some crazy off the wall sci-fi. I did notice that it wasn't very religious-y they went straight to chaos. My favorite part is when the sheik is approached and says, "1 billion dollars is a lot of money." The private salesman says to him, "that's in Euros." Euros are the way to go.
The Bad:
The storyline is alright for this type of movie; it covers the global Destruction and tries to tie it down to a personal aspect with Jackson Curtis's family. I don't know how I feel about this, I would rather see random people die up close and personal and/or go through horrible deaths in masses.
The Ugly:
boyfriend dies and no one cares. No one! The guy busts his butt and he gets a crappy death. Oh, Jackson drives home from Yellowstone in like a night, No way! It would at least take a day & half.
The Mayans don't actually believe that there will be an apocalypse. It's just the end of there long calendar. 2012 did make me cringe a little. If you have a belief system with a big ending, or some sort of apocalypse, then 2012 will make you feel it. I wasn't running to a confessional for forgiveness but if there is an apocalypse coming and if it looked anything like this movie, I better be good with the guy upstairs. Out of TOV 5 stars, I give 2012 4 stars.
