2012 shakes theaters
Seth Griffin
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: Entertainment
The sleeping volcano beneath Yellowstone erupts in fantastic fury, the west coast of California begins sliding off into the ocean, and enormous tidal waves wipe entire cities off the map. Sounds like the end of the world? That's exactly what happens in 2012, which was released on Nov. 13. The film is based on the belief that the Mayan calendar predicts that the world will end on Dec. 21, 2012.
The scientific explanation that the film gives for the catastrophic events is sketchy at best. It involves altered neutrinos being released by the sun, heating the Earth's core and softening the crust, along with the poles shifting following the crossing of the galactic plane. Other scientific lapses are also present in the movie, but they are generally acceptable in the name of entertainment. After all, having the cloud of debris from the Yellowstone volcano crash the plane carrying the protagonists would make for a short movie and disappointed viewers.
While 2012 does not have a compelling plot or award-winning acting, it makes up for it with stunning visuals throughout most of the film. The scene in which the protagonist, Jackson Curtis, played by John Cusack (1408, Martian Child), escapes from Los Angeles with his family in a small plane is particularly impressive. They barely manage to take off and are forced to fly low to the ground, which is crumbling and thrusting upward, destroying the city and throwing debris around the plane. They must dodge everything from flying chunks of earth to collapsing buildings to a runaway subway train. The animation of the disaster scenes is essentially what makes this movie worth seeing.
The plot of the film is a fairly straightforward tale of survival with very little in the way of twists or surprises. John Cusack plays the romantically-challenged geek well. The byplay between Carl Anheuser and Adrian Helmsley, played by Oliver Platt (Martian Child, Year One) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, American Gangster), is very dynamic and makes the subplot of preparation for the event interesting.
Overall, 2012 does not break any new ground cinematically, but it is an entertaining film that is worth seeing in theaters, where the epic disaster scenes can be fully appreciated. It is significantly better than was expected from a disaster movie, weighing in at a three out of five rating.
The scientific explanation that the film gives for the catastrophic events is sketchy at best. It involves altered neutrinos being released by the sun, heating the Earth's core and softening the crust, along with the poles shifting following the crossing of the galactic plane. Other scientific lapses are also present in the movie, but they are generally acceptable in the name of entertainment. After all, having the cloud of debris from the Yellowstone volcano crash the plane carrying the protagonists would make for a short movie and disappointed viewers.
While 2012 does not have a compelling plot or award-winning acting, it makes up for it with stunning visuals throughout most of the film. The scene in which the protagonist, Jackson Curtis, played by John Cusack (1408, Martian Child), escapes from Los Angeles with his family in a small plane is particularly impressive. They barely manage to take off and are forced to fly low to the ground, which is crumbling and thrusting upward, destroying the city and throwing debris around the plane. They must dodge everything from flying chunks of earth to collapsing buildings to a runaway subway train. The animation of the disaster scenes is essentially what makes this movie worth seeing.
The plot of the film is a fairly straightforward tale of survival with very little in the way of twists or surprises. John Cusack plays the romantically-challenged geek well. The byplay between Carl Anheuser and Adrian Helmsley, played by Oliver Platt (Martian Child, Year One) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, American Gangster), is very dynamic and makes the subplot of preparation for the event interesting.
Overall, 2012 does not break any new ground cinematically, but it is an entertaining film that is worth seeing in theaters, where the epic disaster scenes can be fully appreciated. It is significantly better than was expected from a disaster movie, weighing in at a three out of five rating.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
brian
posted 12/07/09 @ 9:05 PM CST
Not have a compelling plot? if it didnt you must have been bored...
The acting was uniformly excellent, as was the dialogue. Great comic character in Charlie Frost. (Continued…)
samueljaxon
Custom Dissertation
posted 2/21/10 @ 10:40 AM CST
I must admit, great news!
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