While the tagline for “2012” states that “We Were Warned” of the Mayan prediction that the world will end Dec. 21, 2012, we weren’t warned of being overloaded with two and a half hours of special effects porn as well as an underdeveloped script. But if the movie is right and the world does end in 2012, those two and a half hours of my life will be sorely missed.
Roland Emmerich, director of “10,000 BC,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Independence Day” and the 1998 version of “Godzilla” seems to have a flair for movies about civilization coming to an end.
The $200-million budget disaster movie was released on a superstitious Friday, Nov. 13, a month in which most movies released are family-friendly movies. “2012” is expected to bring in $55-million domestically this opening weekend while it simultaneously opens in 105 other countries.
A limousine driving, no-name “Farewell Atlantis” author played by John Cusack is among the cast of “2012,” along with Amanda Peet and Danny Glover, as U.S. President Thomas Wilson.
Aside from the occasional Cusack wittiness, and a conspiracy theory radio host played by Woody Harrelson, “2012” is barely funny at its comedic peaks.
Within the first half hour, the film begins in 2009 and quickly jumps to 2010 and 2011, warning of impending doom and introduces the family destined to survive, whose father figure is displaced and out of touch from his family due to a prior divorce.
A scientific discovery of rising temperatures in the earth’s core quickly jumps to a 2012 mass suicide at a Mayan temple, followed by the cataclysmic chain of events set to destroy civilization.
Driven by sets and special effects, the film provides captivating visuals but lacks a coherent screenplay that would explain the many character relationships, length and cheesy romance.