2012

Director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) seems to have a huge knack for making films in which the world blows up.

That is pretty much all that "2012" is about.


There has been some speculation that the world will end on December 21, 2012 because that is when the Mayan calendar ends. Of course it would not be much fun if it just so happened to be that the Mayan civilization didn't feel like making their calendar go further than 2012, especially considering that they are now extinct. In my head the film is not very realistic but it is entertaining to watch.

The story is all based around what the world would do in the case of global destruction and how one might survive it. It specifically follows the life of Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) throughout the catastrophic events of the movie as he tries to survive along with his kids and ex-wife.

The death and violence in this movie is intense and while you see people crushed by buildings from far away, you never really see the bodies of the dead people up close except once briefly. I am not sure what the purpose of this movie exactly was but it felt larger than life, like a superhero movie but even a little less real than that. The effects are okay, better than they could be, but still not enough.

Religious themes also HAD to be put in this disaster movie, because of prophecies told in the Bible about catastrophic events. In fact, there is even reference to "the people with the cardboard who had it right the whole time". In other spots the Bible is talked about briefly and the President also seems to be a believer and even quotes a verse (Psalm 23) to the entire country. It would seem like it would go with what the Bible says at first, but the ending of the movie makes out to be more of an allegory of Noah's Ark instead of Revelations.

This is not really a kid's movie because of the above descriptions and also there is cussing sprinkled throughout the movie and a few small and quick sex references. By the time you read this review, this film will most likely be in the dollar theater or soon to be on home release. In a smaller format, this may make the movie look even cheaper than I thought it was and also not as fantastic looking (as if it was). In the end, this movie is very overrated and the only thing it really has to offer is the benefit of seeing things blow up, and also the growing theory that the world will end 2012.