2012

Movie Review: 2012

Grand Effects, Grand Story, Grand Ridiculousness. The makers of 2012 definitely wanted to leave all previous disaster movies in the dust as far as visuals, and they succeeded, but in the process they made it extremely unbelievable as well.

If someone were to research 2012, they would find various predictions and other info on how in 2012 the earth will undergo some sort of disaster that will change it drastically or destroy it completely.  Is there any truth to it?  The movie 2012 does not aim to convince the audience this will indeed happen.  There is a lack of contemplation over the theory by any characters.  It is simply a sudden realization that the world will end, followed by two hours of ridiculous amounts of damage to the world, mostly through immense earthquakes.

Character development exists, although there are far too many characters to gain significant feelings for them.  Unlike director Roland Emmerich's superior disaster movie Independence Day, most of the characters in 2012 lack strong and heartfelt dialogue.  Instead there is some forced humor in a very disastrous situation that should be darker than the disaster movies before it, because it is inspired by true historical information and theory.  One of the few characters that stayed appropriately serious throughout the movie was Chiwetel Ejiofor's character Adrian, who also delivered one of the only serious monologues in the movie.

Where one may find enjoyment in the movie is primarily in the action sequences and special effects.  Those are the two aspects where the movie really succeeds.  There are buildings falling, earth shattering, running/flying/jumping from fire, tsunamis, and many, many more visually enticing sequences with very impressive effects.  If these scenes were backed up with realistic and less caricature characters and story development, these scenes would feel far more intense.  Instead, these scenes were good to look at only, but not believable.  And considering 2012 knowledge is quickly becoming more widespread, it would have been an easy opportunity for the filmmakers to dig into the existing fears of the audience and create drama they could connect with.                                                                                                                                         

Impressive effects and action sequences overshadow the story, characters, and talented actors.  Although the movie was not as realistic or dramatic as it could have been, perhaps it can calm the audience's mind on just how real the 2012 predictions are.  If the movie would not take the predictions seriously and made a mostly humorous action movie, perhaps the real 2012 should not be taken too seriously either.  And if it does turn out to be real, we can only hope to be as unrealistically lucky as some of the characters in this movie.