‘2012′: The Good And The Bad

Nov

MI.J.Blogger Movies

I love disaster movies. I've seen them all. Some of my favorites include "Armageddon", "Independence Day", "Deep Impact", and "Twister". A few of my B-listers include "War of the Worlds", "The Day After Tomorrow", and "The Core".

A couple stinkers include "Outbreak" and "Poseidon."

Where does "2012" rank? I'd think somewhere between the B-lister and the stinkers. Here are the top five good things about "2012" and the top five bad things.

WARNING: MOVIE SPOILERS. Click the link at your own discretion.

First, the good.

John Cusak. I like Cusak. I enjoy most every movie he has appeared in. "Better off Dead" is one of my all-time favorites. I think Cusak did a decent job as the "hero" of an action movie when he never plays these types of characters. What makes it be believable is Cusak's character doesn't do anything super-human, unless you count some superb driving as the city of Los Angeles crumbles around him.
Special effects. When you see a movie like "2012" you expect to be wowed with explosions, crashes and catastrophes. And those scenes better not be cheesy or the movie is ruined. The flood scenes were great. Cities being hurled into the oceans looked good and the fire falling from the sky looked real. There were a few scenes with planes taking off that looked a little "off" but for the most part the visuals were good.
Humor. There were a few light moments and jokes that brought out some chuckles but not too many to take away from the seriousness of the end of the world.
Oliver Platt and Danny Glover. Platt plays a Washington bureaucrat that has a major role in concocting a plan to save some remnant of humanity. He shifts from a pretty good guy into a power-grabbing jerk by the end of the movie. Glover plays the president. While no one makes a better movie president than Morgan Freeman ("Deep Impact"), Glover does a good job of portraying a caring leader who is struggling with how he will deal with the end of the world.
It wasn't "Twilight." Yes, I plan to see the newest vampire-crazed movie. However, I plan to see it when the hysteria dies down. The theater where I went to see "2012" was jammed with young girls and older women dying to see who wins between Team Edward and Team Jacob (I presumed they all knew because they read the books.) After waiting in lines to buy a ticket and get some popcorn, I entered the theater showing "2012" and there was barely a soul in the place.

Now for the bad.

Woody Harrelson. I loved him in "Zombieland" as a goofy zombie slayer, but his portrayal of a government conspiracy theorist, redneck, radio show host, was weak. The whole time I kept thinking, "Woody is not very good in this role. He is just a playing a tired UFO chaser stereotype."
Lame, over-used family dynamic. Cusak plays a divorced dad who is basically a bum that does not have the respect of his son. And that son loves his mom's boyfriend. The younger daughter loves her daddy and is exceptionally cute. By the end of the movie, the son comes to respect the father because he's a hero. I think we last saw this played out was with Tom Cruise in "War of the Worlds."
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton. There was nothing wrong with either of their performances. In fact, they were very good. They were both under-used. And Ejiofor's "inspirational" speech at the end of the movie was not very moving.
Not enough emotion. Maybe there was too much death and destruction. You couldn't feel for the billions who died and the characters that got screen time and died didn't extract much feeling at all. While "Armageddon" may not have been "Citizen Kane", but when several of the main characters died, especially Bruce Willis, it was emotional.
Too many similar escape scenes. As Cusak and family escaped the destruction, we were treated to two vehicle escapes and THREE harrowing plane takeoffs. The big flood scene at the end was sweet.

Overall, I give "2012" a C. It wasn't the best disaster flick and it wasn't the worst. It was worth the price of admission, especially the matinée price, and the cost of a popcorn and pop. If the makers of "2012" wanted to make a sequel, there is a good story to be told.