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The Perfect Recipe for Disaster Take Roland Emmerich, add the best sequences from THE TOWERING INFERNO, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, AIRPORT and ARMAGEDDON; fold in a hefty dose of VOLCANO, EARTHQUAKE, and TSUNAMI, mix it with a halfway decent storyline, good talent, an old Mayan prophecy, some characters you can relate to, and add a $260 million budget - and you have the perfect recipe for a disaster movie of gigantic proportions!
No longer content with stomping the City of New York into oblivion with tidal waves and monster lizards, master of disaster Roland Emmerich has pulled out all the stops to destroy the entire world in his latest apocalyptic epic, 2012. Centuries ago, the Ancient Mayans predicted that the End of the World would occur on December 21, 2012 (they left out the exact time); a theory generally disregarded until geologists discover that massive solar eruptions are heating up the Earth’s core at an astonishing rate. Naturally, nobody wants to believe it, but the violence and growing frequency of a series of worldwide natural disasters cannot be ignored, and while most of humankind is oblivious of what is to come, international governments and the power mongers soon begin their covert preparations for the impending holocaust. Building a secret cache of gigantic ships, or “Arks” in the high Himalayas, so that at least a portion of mankind - the rich portion, in fact, anyone who can afford to pay the exorbitant price of a ticket - can be saved. Enter frustrated sci-fi novelist Jackson Curtis (nicely played by John Cusack), who picks up his kids (his son is called Noah - so there’s a clue) from his ex-wife for a bonding weekend in Yellowstone National Park. Arriving at the usual camp site, he is surprised to find it fenced off and even more surprised to be suddenly surrounded by armed and twitchy military personnel. Then he encounters doomsday radio prophet Charlie Frost (a wonderfully manic Woody Harrelson) who seeks to persuade him of the catastrophe to come, also mentioning that he has a map leading to the only place of safety. For Jackson it’s all hogwash, until he gets back to LA at the beginnings of the mother of all earthquakes (10.4 on the Richter scale). Packing the whole family into the car, including ex-wife and her new spouse (who happens to have a pilot’s license, which sure comes in handy), he races to safety. The “chase” sequences: outracing the earthquake by car and by plane, are some of the most hair-raising and spectacular ever to hit the screen. For me, personally, they were only surpassed by the satisfaction of watching the whole of LA break up and slide into the sea. Then it’s back to Yellowstone to find Charlie’s map, just in time for the super volcano to blow, impressively spewing flaming lava, smoke, ash and chunks of mountain high into the heavens. Map in hand, they manage to outrace this disaster, as well. For Jackson, it is clear: if he wants to save his family, then it’s off to China to find the ship. But he doesn’t suspect that finding it alone will not be enough. There are big gaps in the logic department, a certain predictability and the dialogue, although better than most films of the genre, is loaded with sentimental clichés: while the clock is ticking on the end of humanity, many characters feel the need to make exhaustive, corny confessions - slowing down the pace and making the movie a good 40 minutes longer than it should be. But despite all that, at a full 158 minutes, 2012 is a thrilling and entertaining romp and a great adventure flick for the winter season. 2012 (USA 2009); Genre: Disaster/action/adventure; Running time: 158 minutes; International release dates: 12/13th November 2009; Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing; Director: Roland Emmerich; Writers: Roland Emmerich, Harold Kloser; Composers: Larry J. Franco, Thomas Wander; Main cast: John Cusack, Chiewtel Ejiofor, Woody Harrelson, Oliver Platt, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover; Cinematographer: Dean Semler; Production designer: Barry Chusid; Editor: Peter S. Elliot Plot: An epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors. |
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