Disaster films have punctuated movie history for decades and take audiences along for rides beyond the usual. Forget Disneyland, 2012 is a high powered ride that is filled with special effects that combine earthquakes, floods, fires, and everything else.
John Cusack stars as a man caught in the middle of the worst disaster in human history – the end of the world as we know it. According to the Mayan calendar, the world will come to an end on 12-21-12, and that is what is happening in the movie.
According to the Sony Press Notes, the idea for 2012 first occurred to writer/producer/composer Harald Kloser, Roland Emmerich’s writing partner. “Every civilization on Earth has a flood myth,” says Kloser. “Things are going wrong, society isn’t working anymore, and the planet starts over. Some people get a second chance to start a new culture, a new society, a new civilization.”
Earthquakes Destroy Los Angeles
When the sun heats up the earth in the ultimate situation of global warming, the earth’s core heats the crust starts to shift. Earthquakes begin in Los Angeles and eventually destroy the city. Other quakes around the world are doing the same.
The powers that be devise a plan to save some of the people and treasures of our civilization when the finality of the situation eventually overtakes the planet.
Jackson Curtis (Cusack) is a down-on-his-luck writer with an ex-wife (Amanda Peet) and two children. While on a vacation in Yellowstone, Jackson learns of the end of the world from a new age prophet (Woody Harrelson), but does not believe it. When he returns to Los Angeles, he finally understands what is going on and gathers his family in an attempt to vacate the city before it falls into the ocean.
A Journey to Find a Safe Place
The group takes a small plane to Las Vegas to find a man Jackson believes knows what is going on and who has tickets on a ship which has been constructed to save humanity. From Las Vegas they travel to China. Along the route they view the burning islands of Hawaii.
China is where the heads of state have assembled along with groups of people who have either been selected for seats or bought their seats on the few ships that have been created to withstand the disaster. Having had a few years to plan for this cataclysmic event, several “arks” have been created to save some of our civilization that without them could go the way of the dinosaurs.
The story is only part of this film. The main part is the special effects which show the destruction of cities, the overturning of cruise ships, the melting of islands, and the flooding of almost all of the land mass. Without modern technology, this movie would provide the impact that does. The story might seem lame, but with the ominous date of 12-21-12 looming in the near future, this movie will have people talking.
The Future of Humanity
Saving humanity is the goal of the heads of state, but when it comes down to it, what is humanity any way? Is it being fair to all or selling out to the highest bidder?
As these ships embark on their mission to save whoever has managed to make it onto the arks, the people realize that they are what remain of our civilization. The future of our race rests in their hands.
This high-octane movie is part Poseidon Adventure, Airplane, Dante’s Peak, Armageddon, The Core, The Towering Inferno, The Day After Tomorrow, Earthquake, Avalanche, and all the other doomsday films that have preceded it. It is the ultimate disaster film, to put it mildly.
Sony/Columbia Pictures
2012 rated PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language.
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