2012 Review

Apocalyptic doom and cataclysmic disaster has been a favourite genre with Hollywood and the latest in the line is 2012. The movie Roland Emmerich directed movie is inspired by the idea of a global doomsday event coinciding with the end of the Mayan Long Count Calendar's current cycle on or around December 21, 2012. The sub-plot of the movie is that amidst this environmental catastrophes all over the world, wiping out major cities and killing large portions of the population a broken family reunites.

Roland Emmerich is no stranger to imagination and sci-fi after having made Independence Day, Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow. He seems to enjoy nothing more than seeing the most famous monuments toppled. Emmerich is a professional when it comes to showing massive destruction but he seems to have gone overboard with the destruction theory and destroyed his movie 2012. The initial devastation seems impressive but two hours of monotonous scenes seems unbearable.

Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) is a divorced father while his ex-wife Kate Curtis (Amanda Peet) and children live together with her new boyfriend, Gordon (Thomas McCarthy). At the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, the victims of a mass suicide seem to adhere to the Mayan calendar, which predicts the end of the world will coincide with a Galactic Alignment, which is to occur on December 21 of 2012, the date of the northern hemisphere's winter solstice.

The IHC (Institute for Human Continuity), a secret organization, has realized the situation and begins constructing vast arks beneath the Himalayan mountains designed to withstand most natural disasters in order to save both humanity, significant species, and the greatest treasures of mankind for when doomsday finally happens. There are arguments however about how and when the governments of the world will alert their fellow citizens and even discussions about how the remaining survivors will be selected to survive Armageddon.

The special effects have always been highlight of Emmerich's movies and 2012 isn't any exception. But the movie lacks a good screenplay and that is what separates it from blockbusters like Independence day and The Day After Tomorrow. Acting seems ordinary as the poor script takes away everything from the stars. John Cusack seems to be the only star who shines in the movie by delivering a brilliant performance.

The movie runtime of 158 minutes seems to be a shade longer for a movie which just is a montage of special effects. In the end 2012 is seems less interested in talking about the Mayan truth and more about its Box Office success. The hype that the movie has created around itself with the Mayan doomsday prediction is sure give it a huge opening. Roland Emmerich should have waited till 2012 and made a better movie or else should have waited till 2012 and spared the world from a headache.