2012

So for the weekend we rented 2012, and got immersed in the end of the world based on the end of the Mayan calendar on 12/21/12. I went into watching this movie with very low expectations knowing this was a disaster movie and that it would be more important then ever to allow for the suspension of disbelief.

2012, was directed by Roland Emmerich who is known for directing such movies as 10,000 B.C., The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day and The Patriot. While the plot of a disaster movie does not change much from disaster movie to disaster movie, Emmerich was able to give the disaster movie with a whole new twist. I do not want to spoil it for those who have not seen it, but I will say that this disaster was known by some that gave them plenty of time to prepare for when they believe the disaster will happen. Even with this great twist the story was not as strong as it could of should have been. Emmerich though is able to give great visuals and using the technology available to him to provide us with great visuals of destruction as the impending disasters hit the cities.

This movie for the most part did not give us anything new to expect in a disaster movie. The film used the same formula that has been used for disaster movies. This formula consists of catastrophic event after event happening in an area that the hero/heroes are in to allow for tense moments that have the intent to make you wonder about what may happen to the heroes but to allow them to narrowly escape disaster time after time.

Unfortunately, a disaster movie for the most part does not give a screenplay that requires a strong performance from the cast because the action in the movie takes away from some strong performances. While John Cusack seems to mail in his performance, in part this is due to teh fact that the screenplay was not strong enough to give a real depth of character for his role and make you truly care for the character. On the other hand Woody Harrelson, playing a conspiracy theorist radio host lunactic who will remind everyone of someone that they may have come across in their travels through life.

In the words of Randy Jackson I would have to say that this movie was just "a'ight," but was worth the price of a redbox to rent. This may have been a movie that I may have enjoyed even more if I had seen it in the movie theater with the full effect of the surrounding sound and the destruction on a huge screen. I would give this movie one and a half  buckets of popcorn out of five buckets, but I would recommend renting it if you go in with an expectation of it being a typical disaster action movie.

-The Movie Man-