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2012

Buzz says:   MPAA Rating: PG-13
Current Showtimes: No showtimes available

Remember when we were all huddled in our basements, surrounded by bottles of water and canned food in 1999? Yeah, neither do I. But don’t worry, there’s still time for some good old fashion panic! It turns out the actual date for the apocalypse has been set to December 21st, 2012, and John Cusack is one of the four horsemen.

If you’ve seen the previews, this movie is pretty much what you would expect it to be. There are a few clever one-liners, mixed in which some over-indulgent CGI, and a slow moving deadly force of nature which our heros just seem to barely escape. Think The Day After Tomorrow meets Deep Impact.

The movie actually starts off pretty slow. There’s a bunch of pseudo-science that’s thrown at you, which wouldn’t make sense to the average movie-goer, but the jist is there. “Hey look, there are some super weird things going on in the earth’s core, but no one in charge is listening to me!” The elevation in the Earth’s core temperature is caused by none-other than the sun (another throw back to The Day After Tomorrow). The result is fractures in the earth, massive volcanic eruptions, and tidal waves caused by shifts in the earth’s tectonic plates. Basically everything is unstable, and you get to see California break off like a giant graham cracker (which almost makes the movie worth the price of admission).

There are also a few subplots within the film, but none of them seem to be fully developed. John Cusack’s character is your typical newly separated father, trying to contend with his ex-wife’s new boyfriend and fighting for the love of his kids (albeit, passively). It’s something that you would expect from this type of film, but still feels ingenuous. Then there’s the sexy geologist, trying to deal with the ethical constraints of knowing the world will be coming to an end, and only a select few will be saved, while also trying to get the attention of the breathtakingly beautiful and intelligent President’s daughter. Like most scientists, he is a passionate, passionate man. Again, this is a reasonable subplot to expect, but it brings nothing new to the genre and comes off as forced and at points just a little more than melodramatic.

The bottom line is this movie suffers from trying to mix too many things that stand great on their own, but when put together, take away from each other. It’s a great popcorn flick, but probably not something you’ll watch more than once.