Movie Review: 2012

The sun's sending extra heat due to which planet Earth has a destabilising crust. End result? It's hurtling towards doomsday in 2012, as predicted by the Mayan calendar. Can a father, John Cusack, save his family, a President, Danny Glover, his country, a scientist, Chiwetel Ejiofor, the future...?


Film: 2012 (Sci-fi Adventure)
Cast: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Direction: Roland Emmerich
Duration: 2 hours 38 minutes

End of the world movies have almost always been engaging. Also, director Roland Emmerich has ended the world time and again through his celluloid epics. Be it the aliens bringing the White House down, the world going into deep freeze or the giant lizard trampling across terra firma, films like Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and Godzilla have showcased Emmerich as an able prophet of doom.

Once again, he churns the oceans, cracks up the earth and sends down fireballs to create a cataclysm that sends humanity into a tizzy. Everyone's on the run, now that they know Earth has an expiry date: December 2012. And before the new world can begin (circa 0001), with a handful of survivors, families must unite, loved one's must be lost, the benevolent must shine and the bad guys be sorted out...In short, the entire gamut of emotions must be run through, even if it takes a prolonged two and half hours to depict the might of man against the fury of nature.

Yes, 2012 is too long and ends up taxing your patience in the last 40 minutes where all the drama unfolds inside a submarine-like Noah's ark, brimming over with the survivors, handpicked on different yardsticks. Most of them are there because they could afford to buy themselves a one billion euro berth in the secret ship.

Some have connections (like the US president's daughter, the White House chief), some because the new world needs them, like the bright, young scientist, Chiwetel Ejifor, and some -- the good, yet ordinary guys -- are gatecrashers and stowaways (John Cusack and his estranged family). But human drama isn't supposed to be the highlight of any disaster film.

Special effects are the main draw. So, you actually don't mind the perfunctory manner in which the director handles his characters' bondings. There's Cusack trying to re-bond with his separated wife (Amanda Peet) and kids. There's the scientist torn with grief because he can't take his dad on the secret ship.

There's the US Prez (Danny Glover) who chooses not to abandon his countrymen and prefers to look for a kid's lost daddy, when doom dawns. And there's the scheming wannabe (Oliver Platt) who dreams of becoming Prez when the new world order begins.

Oh yes, amongst all these usual types, there's also the mad prophet of doom cum radio jockey (Woody Harrelson), who wants to be the first to bring the news, even if it means standing in the face of a volcano. All the characters try to hold your attention as they battle apocalyptical blues.

But what really holds your attention is apocalypse itself. Yes, it's the special effects of the film, more than the human drama, which completely sweep you off your feet. You get a cheesy thrill watching larger-than-life waves, fissures, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions wipe off all the famous monuments of the world.

The White House is washed away. Eiffel Tower is knocked down. The Sistine Chapel cracks up. Los Angeles splits and California falls off into the sea. And all that survives is a little plane that flys through the falling landscape and a specially crafted ship: a symbol of the invincible human spirit.

Truly, there's no one better than Hollywood, when it comes to shock and awe cinema. Director Emmerich knows he can only score with this just-another-disaster flick if he creates a bigger bang when the world ends.

And it's here that he succeeds. Despite being low on the emotional quotient, with characters that can be easily forgotten, 2012 remains a larger-than-life entertainer due to its visual splendour.

And for the desi viewers, there is the special tribute the filmmaker pays to India. It's an Indian astrophycist, Satnam,(Jimy Mistry), working somewhere in East India, who cautions the world about the impending doom. So what if he's the archetypal third world citizen, forced to speak English with a desi accent.

And so what if he is conveniently forgotten when the exodus begins. At least the American scientist in the survivors' ship, remembers him when the end begins and the desi geek is washed away by a tsunami, family et al. Shabash India!

A word about:

Performances: No one's great. Everyone's okay, just fitting into their roles, without taking your breath away. John Cusack perfects his hangdog look as the ordinary man wih the spirit of a hero, while Amanda Peet doesn't really have much to do. Thandie Newton, a fine actress otherwise, is completely wasted too as the First Daughter. The only actor who stands out amidst the crowd is Chiwetel Ejiofor as the American scientist. And only just.

Story: Scripted by producer-director Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser, the film kowtows the demands of a disaster film: it has a flimsy storyline, focussing primarily on survival and unfolds mostly through special effects.

Cinematography: Great camera work by Dean Semler. The end of the world sequences are absolutely magnificent as are the daring little vignettes of human valour.

Special Effects: Mike Vezina is the special effects supervisor. And Mike Vezina deserves a kudos. For watching California falling off the map of the world or LA cracking up into a grand canyon sets you gawking like never before.