2012
The year is 2009 and a group of astute scientists have just made the discovery that solar flares on the surface of the sun are impacting earth’s core, cooking our planet in the fashion of a microwave. Now, three years later the planet is in peril, earth’s crust is beginning to crack under the pressure and heat. When Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), an absent father of two and author of apocalypse books, meets a Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), a crazy radio broadcasting nomad who understands how the earth will be destroyed based on an ancient Mayan calendar prediction, the future of mankind in Curtis’ eyes becomes evident. Now Curtis must race against catastrophic earthquakes, tsunami waves of epic proportion, and crustal displacement to try and save his family. Meanwhile,  Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a government environmental scientist, provides a moral conscious for society as a “chosen” group of people struggle for survival, but will his actions cause the death of thousands of would be survivors and possibly mankind altogether?
Explosions, crashes, and impossible chases, this film is made with more Hollywood special effects than you could possibly imagine. Sadly this sort of flick usually comes with a weak script, and while this film isn’t any exception, the acting caliber of most of the principal actors certainly helps raise the bar a bit. And be forewarned, clocking in at two hours and 38 minutes of run time you’ll want to watch your soda intake, this is a beast of a film, it’s also a wonder what a DVD release of this film will include for deleted scenes, pondering if there are any? Overall, the film is ridiculous, knows it, and goes for broke. Maybe a matinee for the spectacle nature of the film but in reality that may be a bit of a push. 2012 is rated PG-13.