If the greatest sin for a movie maker is to bore the audience, then Roland Emmerich has nothing to worry about in the overblown monstrosity called 2012. Some movies are character driven and some movies are plot driven. 2012 is we’re-all-going-to-die driven.
As you would expect, the end of the world is very chaotic. In this respect, the movie 2012 is triumphant by having a storyline that is all over the map. It is good advice to not fret over the plot. In fact, you may get a headache searching for meaning in dialogue that is simply a vehicle to get to the next disaster. Just sit back and enjoy the magnificence of CGI (computer generated imagery), because 2012 is best when things are blowing up, falling down or cracking open. Evidently, a lot of things will crack open during the apocalypse.
In all seriousness, the use of CGI in 2012 is state of the art and filmmaking has reached a point where literally any event can be realistically manufactured for the big screen. The Emmerich creation does it all with great skill.
But you will wonder through out the movie if you are supposed to laugh or be spellbound by drama. Even movies that suspend reality are expected to stay within a range of plausibility. But remarkably, John Cusack is able to outrun an exploding super volcano in an oversized RV … on a dirt road … and after being hit by a huge ball of fire. You’ll also be relieved to know that cell phones will still work from country to country when half the world has been destroyed and a tsunami the size of a skyscraper is about to kill you.
The cast is more than capable. Chicago's John Cusack, who is known for alternating between independent and mainstream films, is as steady and charming as ever in a foray into a big budget action flick. He makes no attempt to be campy, which would have crossed the film over into James Bond territory. Amanda Peet also gives an equally solid performance and Woody Harrelson is perfectly cast as a whacked out, frenetic loner who deciphers a clandestine plan by the world’s governments. It is possible the actors were unaware of the absurd tone the movie would strike, since so many scenes are dominated by computer images.
But the purpose of movies, after all, is to entertain, and using that criterion, 2012 gets an A. Who knows, perhaps Roland Emmerich has prevented the end of the world. That’s so Hollywood now. It’s already been done.
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