REVIEW: 2012

Although this is not the first time he has destroyed the world, this makes at least his fourth attempt. 2012 follows Independence Day (1996), the mis-judged American remake of Godzilla (1998) and Al Gore nightmare The Day After Tomorrow (2004).

2012 references the ancient Mayan Calendar, where their prediction of the world’s future simply ends on the 21st of December 2012. A disaster for the Olympic committee no doubt; but 2012, as in Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow before it, follows not only the White house and it’s overacting inhabitants: but also an average Joe trying to save his family. The world begins to collapse one national monument at a time and explosions and stuff happen.

%movie(18)

If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve pretty much seen the film.

And this is the main problem with the 2012, and most of Emmerich’s other movies. The senseless and almost constant destruction causes entirely the opposite effect of a Michael Bay film. Whereas with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) the constant dizzying action causes one to vomit in confusion and disgust, 2012’s apocalyptic carnage leaves on so bored in the moments of downtime that I felt myself searching for the fast forward button. The pleasure comes in the explosion porn, not the storyline; and I realised I was not watching a film at all, but a series of disaster set pieces ripped from an episode of “World’s wildest Tsunamis” or “Terror Volcano.” The lack of any narrative (beyond the surface scenario) or likeable characters made me leave the cinema and forget almost immediately the majority of the film. The destruction of the world has been done so many times before, not least by the director himself, that the film gives you a constant sense of déjà-vu. The film is a waste of money and effort but is enjoyable only as a series of explosive set-pieces; akin to watching clips of disasters on youtube.