Starring: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Thomas McCarthy, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover,

Directed by: Roland Emmerich

New Line Cinema

The Official Site of 2012

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Wide shots and narrow escapes. It seems as though these simple words are the answer to making the kind of disaster movie that will have audiences lining up around the block. There’s something so special about a credible threat that you can clearly see, about an airplane taking off as the ground crumbles beneath it or a car racing away from a tidal wave of cracking concrete and toppling buildings. Director Roland Emmerich, the destruction guru that brought us earth-shattering staples like Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, seems to be well aware of this as he packs his latest effort 2012 with a variety near deaths shot from a distance. It’s exactly the kind of beautiful devastation you’d expect.

It’s also a little stupid.

Based on a prediction that the end of the Mayan calendar on December 21st 2012 will bring about the end of the world (New Age interpretation that many Mayan scholars argue misrepresents Maya history) 2012 focuses less on conspiracy theories as it does the destruction at hand. It begins with activity on the sun that will lead to the melting of the Earth’s core. The spotlight should rightfully be on the global problem at hand but I couldn’t help but wish a little more of the film had been spent on the history that inspired it. There are no lessons to be learned here. Unless of course you count, “Timing your car jump�, “Avoiding national landmarks� or “Cusack is awesome�.

John Cusack IS awesome. That’s a fact. But we knew that going in. He leads a cast of recognizable faces including Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt and the equally awesome Chiwetel Ejiofor who all have minor inspirational moments but struggle to raise thin material above its bland base. Woody Harrelson makes the most of his time on screen as a crackpot conspiracy theorist documenting the destruction of Yosemeti (which goes up in a wonderfully explosive geyser of lava). He’s in charge of delivering a bulk of the movie’s exposition early on and manages to do so with the kind of easy hippie elegance few people could pull off. Part of which you can see here in his character’s idiot-proof explanation of the annihilation that awaits.

As much as I enjoyed that, it had gotten to a point in the film where things just weren’t working. The strained relationships and double-talk about how bad it was “going to be� left me restless. Then California fell into the ocean and I was reminded why I was willing to lay out 10 bucks for this thing in the first place.

It all comes back to the wide shots and narrow escapes. By pulling back we get to see the destruction for how big it is. One epic “wow� shot after another. With the narrow escapes we’ve got characters we care about (sort of) launching into the air in crap-covered limousines shielding their children’s eyes form the innocents dieing in slow motion all around them. It’s grim but it’s what these movies are made of and 2012 celebrates that (before making a third-act plea for decency in humanity).

Much of it is impossible - There are three ramp jumps, all in cars that should never rightfully survive the landing. Apparently in the year 2012 every car is made in Hazzard County – but that’s to be expected to a degree. If the engine failed or the tired collapsed as soon as these cars touched down then we’d have a very short movie and an action sequence as bland as the plot.

Now… there’s definitely a lot going on. I‘ve always been a fan of simplicity in disaster. “There is an asteroid. Here is our time line. Let’s bust it up.� “There is an alien. He brought friends. Let’s bust them up.� A focused threat is an easier one to enjoy. At some point in Hollywood it became popular to throw as much as possible at the audience. It wasn’t enough to have an alien invasion, it also needed tornados, floods and… snow wolfs outside the New York Public Library. It was the disaster movie equivalent of jumping the shark. It’d become so obscure that the only thing that could have surprised me was if that pack of snow wolfs actually jumped over a shark.

In 2012 plate shifting causes volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, which in turn cause ash clouds and tsunamis. It all makes sense but at times feels like too many cooks in the kitchen.

When it comes down to it I was as impressed as I was unimpressed with 2012. It succeeds in every area it needs to and coasts to the inspirational finish line. It does so though in a glorious wide shot surrounded by catastrophe.

Rating: 6 out of 10 - I had a good experience with this film. I walked away pleased. Even as it sort of devolves into a feel good society piece and ends on the ridiculous line, “No more pull-ups.� (which I promise you is just s stupid out of context as it is “in�) I was pleased with what it presented. It’s hardly a disaster masterpiece but it was some good fun.

Insiders are perhaps more impressed that it was some good profit. With an opening weekend of 65 million it has officially launched the holiday blockbuster season. Something A Christmas Carol struggled to do last week but Twilight should easily escalate the following. The big payday fuels the rumor of a potential TV series titled 2013 chronicling the survivors. Is that a spoiler, that there are survivors? Humanity must live on right?

When I first heard about the proposed TV series I didn’t think much of it is definitely a subject matter ripe with story. There are a lot of avenues to explore that should have sci-fi and conspiracy fans watering at the mouth (or remote. Or wherever we tend to water most in such a case.)

Nope. 2012 should be experienced on the big screen. How well will that possibly hold up on your home system? I’m not saying you don’t have a great set-up. Better than most theaters, I’m sure. But I’d wager the thing plot and under developed characters will be just as pronounced as the downgraded screen. Rent, rinse and forget.