2012: Disaster Porn for the Masses

Special effects dominate much of the film, but they are thrilling.

Since 1994's INDEPENDENCE DAY, director Roland Emmerich has been the pre-eminent destructor of the planet Earth on film.  If there's a national landmark - or even an international one - chances are he has destroyed it, possibly in multiple movies.  After this Fall's 2012, is there anything else left to destroy?  And if there is, why do it?  Isn't this, the mother of all disaster movies, enough?  Well, I hope so, because he's maybe made the best of his crop.  Yes, after INDEPENDENCE DAY, GODZILLA (1998), THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, and 10,000 BC, he has made a film that not only is watchable, but also gets its own ridiculousness.

Anyone remotely familiar with the movie's premise knows it's about the theory that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world, on 12-21-12.  As per usual, there's a large cast of characters that revolve around an intertwine with two central stories:  that of an average family's race to escape the apocalypse, and of a scientist struggling to make the government's plans for survival more populist and less greedy.  But the real star of the show isn't the plot - or even any of the characters - but the wholesale destruction of Earth as we know it.

Yellowstone erupts in a fury, and the heroes narrowly escape once again.

In mind-boggling graphic detail, California falls into the Pacific, first seen at ground-level and then via panoramic overhead.  Yellowstone becomes the planet's largest active volcano.  The Pacific Ocean floods the Himilayas.  Vegas is destroyed.  It's all thrilling, if a bit silly.

Continuing with his comeback year, Woody Harrelson steals the entire movie with only about six or seven minutes of screen time.  He plays a conspiracy theorist/radio host.  I'll allow you to extrapolate how awesome he is from there.

Harrelson and Cusack spar - Harrelson wins with a K.O.

The other actors all turn in relatively weak work.  John Cusack is barely passable, and Chiwetel Ejiofor struggles to keep things grounded.  Amanda Peet would be praise-worthy, but she's given almost nothing to do, so I can't really qualify her in my mind because she's so utterly wasted as a potentially interesting presence.  But, again, no one really expects acting to be a strong point, do they?

Underused and underwritten.  Amanda Peet gives the best performance of the main cast, but isn't given enough to do.

So, in short, maybe Emmerich should hang up the disaster urge.  I seriously doubt he'll top the sheer thrill of this one.  Maybe he'll pursue more "serious" Sci-Fi like STARGATE, or move on to try something different, like he did with THE PATRIOT.  Either way, 2012 thoroughly destroys everything, so there's really nothing left to keep him here.