2012

Language : English / French / Chinese / Russian / Hindi

 

Release date : 2009

 

Run time : 2h38min

 

Genre : Action / Thriller / Sci Fi

 

Cast : John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, Amanda Peet, Thandiwe Newton, Danny Glover, Oliver Platt

 

Director : Roland Emmerich

 

 

The movie was co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich, and was based on the 2012 phenomenon and Mayan prophecy (eschatological beliefs that world ending events would occur around 21st of December 2012).

The story,centers around Jackson Curtis, a so called failed writer,because his book, Farewell Atlantis, only sold 500 copies,but the ones who read it,loved it.

He is the never present father, the story starts with him being late for picking up his kids. He’s divorced,his wife moved on,and married someone else,a plastic surgeon. His son calls him Jackson,instead of dad.

 

At this time,the world is shaken by earthquakes which grow in intensity with every new occurrence. As he visits the National Park with his kids there’s a major earthquake in L.A., one that creates huge holes in the ground.

The army warns them to leave, and a radio personality who looks like a bum,warns Jackson it's the end of the world.

 

After a crater opened in the middle of the mall she was shopping at with her new husband, Jackson's ex wife, calls him ,scared,and asks him to bring the kids home.

 

Although at first he thinks the radio personality crazy, he starts believing (after the twins of his billionaire boss tell him the same thing, that they are going on a ship, to survive the destruction, while he'll die).

He decides to go back after his kids, and gets them out of the house as it collapses due to the magnitude of the earthquake.

What follows are epic scenes of the world falling apart around them, as they try to survive the end times!

This movie!Where do I begin? I loved it,it’s one of my favorites. The visual effects were amazing (which were probably 90% of the movie),all the destruction scenes looked so real (I first watched it at the cinema when it was released), just wow!

The movie was action packed,beginning to end, it doesn't have a dull moment,everything moves fast.

 

While I loved the movie,I have to admit that the chances of the leading characters getting away and escaping the raising hell around them is minimal in real life. I honestly feel that at the rate the destruction was happening,the limo would have been swallowed into the holes of the earth or smashed under the building. Also,the plane escaping the ash cloud should have been swallowed by it,and the van managing to drive as the earth crumbled underneath it.

 

 

What I didn’t like---MAJOR SPOILERS

I didn’t like how they tried to portray the Russian girl who had an affair with the pilot,as a good character. She was with the billionaire who "made her have plastic surgery" to get bigger boobs..boo hoo,princess, you are a gold digger (a person who's pursuing wealthy people, motivated by money), who's cheating (!) ,meaning the lowest of the low, know your fucking worth!

 

I actually liked the billionaire and I wished he lived while his gold digging girlfriend died. He died doing the most honorable thing ever,saving his children. That scene was bittersweet,and brought tears to my eyes.

 

I also didn’t like the righteousness of certain characters as it felt fake,people in real life aren’t like that, especially people who are that high up,like the president’s daughter. I thought that the guy they tried to portray as the villain,again,was the voice of reason. That guy actually asks these two to give up their seats to other people less fortunate, if they feel so bad for them, and they don't, which shows they are hypocrites.

 

The arks were made with the billionaires' money, which were notified at the last moment, and it puts things in perspective, because, just like when we die, they couldn't take anything with them, not their houses, riches, or money (things which also, lost their value in the new world).

 

I didn’t like that the leading characters,no matter what they went though,survived. I didn’t like that the surgeon had to die so the leading character could go back to his wife. Once he died,it was like he never existed,and the wife was kissing her ex,literally a few minutes or hours later!

 

The acting was amazing, considering the actors probably had to act against a green screen imagining what was supposed to be in front of them, and had to scream and act scared a lot. The best ones were Woody Harrelson,who played the conspiracy theory radio personality, and the little girl.

 

The movie received mixed reviews from the critics, but made 791 millions of dollars against a budget of 200 million,being the 5th highest-grossing movie of 2009.

Cinema Score audiences gave the movie a B+, on an A+ to F scale.

The movie received a few awards nominations, but not for what counts, like Best Movie, or Best Visual Effects, and the actors who were really the best in it, who had to act scared and crying all the time, like John Cusack's family!

 

Rating : The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of !