2012 promises to be nothing more than a disaster movie – and it is exactly that. However, what works for the movie are the awesome action pieces that take your breath away. The CGI work is spectacular – you haven’t seen anything like this (not even from Michael Bay). Skyscrapers toppling, roads splitting up into canyons, the Sistine Chapel collapsing – and the piece de resistance – a plane taking off from a runaway as it cracks up behind it. I don’t remember the last time a cheesy action movie has me so exhilarated with the action scenes.
However, if you are the sort who looks for logic in every movie – please avoid this one. For it is not the most logical story every produced. The plot is something like this - as prophesied by the Mayans, the year 2012 witnesses a gigantic solar flare which bombards earth with a neutron-like subatomic particle and causes the earth’s core to start heating up. The result is a earth’s crust displacement which leads to massive earthquakes, volcanoes and tidal waves.
And the world is not caught unawares – an Indian scientist Dr Satnam makes the discovery in 2009 itself and the world powers ultra-secretively prepare for this armageddon. However, calculations are wrong and things start going kaboom a month before schedule ….
The Good
As I have already waxed eloquent, the disasters are breathtaking to watch. There is not a moment’s respite and the action just keeps on coming – the first half especially.
And there is not much else to recommend in the movie
The Bad
As is the bane of this genre, dialogues are extremely cheesy, especially towards the end. And while all the world is collapsing around us, we are made to sympathize with the family of John Cusack and Amanda Peet – without much explanation as to why they are the chosen ones. You can predict from a mile which ones from the group are going to make it are which ones aren’t. And Jimi Mistry (the Guru) is atrocious as Dr. Satnam – he really grates on your ears – but thankfully he has just a 3 min sequence.
Even though it is almost two and half hours long, 2012 has enough bangs to keep you entertained for most of the journey. So if you are in the mood for a mindless apocalypse movie, this is just the thing for you.
2 comments:
I just watched 2012 last night and was just plain bored. It just had all the cliches possible thrown in. I did not feel any sort of sympathy or empathy for any character. And even the special effects started to look ridiculous. The tall glass building falling in slow motion looked childish. I would have given it a 1.5 stars, that too just for the few special graphics that did manage to make me say - oh!
I agree there were lot of cliches, like the hero kissing the heroine before going to save the world etc :) !!
But the movie was not boring - the special effects were way too cool ! You are not supposed to even look at the characters - just enjoy the explosions :)
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