Review: '2012' major cast members can't make up for plot
Devlin Hogans
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: Features
Will the end of the Mayan calendar result in an apocalypse that may actually come true in our time? Although doubted, many rumors have suggested otherwise. "2012" comes just in time to implant ideas into the heads of believers of what may come and how to possibly survive it.
Di rector Roland Emmerich has experience in doomsday movies with Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, so my expectations for a fresh way to annihilate the human race were set high. This time around, the special effects and utter destruction of our planet proved even better than its predecessors.
According to the movie's scientist Adrian Helmsley, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, the sun will start to emit mutant rays called neutrinos, which gradually heat the earth's crust. Eventually the extreme heat causes the phenomena known as earth crust displacement, and from that point, natural disasters become as common as the sun rising in the east.
As usual, the government ignores the warnings when they first start in 2009 and finds itself pressed for time when devastation starts to occur before the set date of December 21, 2012.
When massive earthquakes and fissures begin ripping apart the ground, failed author Jackson Curtis, played by John Cusack, rescues his family in the nick of time.
Afterwards, many other narrow escapes are made from seemingly impossible situations with each one becoming more unbelievable than the next, but still provide ample eye-candy. You would literally have a better shot at winning the lottery than surviving what that family went through.
The half of the movie consisting of obliteration was fantastic, but the other half, which is supposed to relay a plot, felt unconnected. Emmerich stresses the tired moral of sacrificing one's life to save another, but conflicts with the how the government chooses a fraction of the planet's wealthiest to board the experimental arks.
On top of that, I realize how the director takes a jab at the Christian faith through the way he destroys specific monuments. Not once does he even consider touching symbols of another religion. Those who rely on faith are mocked as they pray in front of churches which ironically topple over them.
The movie tries to use its vastly recognizable cast as safety net for its weak plot. Danny Glover plays the president, Thandie Newton as the president's daughter, Amanda Peet as Cusack's ex-wife, Woody Harrelson as a psychotic DJ who foresees all and Oliver Platt as assistant to the president. Emmerich almost pulls off the misdirection but the big names did not provide much of an equalizer.
I found myself becoming irritated by how people frequently gave speeches when they should have been worrying about destruction that would inevitably hit them in five minutes. For thrill seekers, 2012 is a visual joyride, but to sit through two and a half hours will make most people want to fast forward through the dialogue.
Di rector Roland Emmerich has experience in doomsday movies with Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, so my expectations for a fresh way to annihilate the human race were set high. This time around, the special effects and utter destruction of our planet proved even better than its predecessors.
According to the movie's scientist Adrian Helmsley, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, the sun will start to emit mutant rays called neutrinos, which gradually heat the earth's crust. Eventually the extreme heat causes the phenomena known as earth crust displacement, and from that point, natural disasters become as common as the sun rising in the east.
As usual, the government ignores the warnings when they first start in 2009 and finds itself pressed for time when devastation starts to occur before the set date of December 21, 2012.
When massive earthquakes and fissures begin ripping apart the ground, failed author Jackson Curtis, played by John Cusack, rescues his family in the nick of time.
Afterwards, many other narrow escapes are made from seemingly impossible situations with each one becoming more unbelievable than the next, but still provide ample eye-candy. You would literally have a better shot at winning the lottery than surviving what that family went through.
The half of the movie consisting of obliteration was fantastic, but the other half, which is supposed to relay a plot, felt unconnected. Emmerich stresses the tired moral of sacrificing one's life to save another, but conflicts with the how the government chooses a fraction of the planet's wealthiest to board the experimental arks.
On top of that, I realize how the director takes a jab at the Christian faith through the way he destroys specific monuments. Not once does he even consider touching symbols of another religion. Those who rely on faith are mocked as they pray in front of churches which ironically topple over them.
The movie tries to use its vastly recognizable cast as safety net for its weak plot. Danny Glover plays the president, Thandie Newton as the president's daughter, Amanda Peet as Cusack's ex-wife, Woody Harrelson as a psychotic DJ who foresees all and Oliver Platt as assistant to the president. Emmerich almost pulls off the misdirection but the big names did not provide much of an equalizer.
I found myself becoming irritated by how people frequently gave speeches when they should have been worrying about destruction that would inevitably hit them in five minutes. For thrill seekers, 2012 is a visual joyride, but to sit through two and a half hours will make most people want to fast forward through the dialogue.
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