2012- A Disaster Of Its Own

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Movies

Sunday, 15 November 2009 05:55

By Popcorn Junkie

There's a section of the public that's fascinated by disaster flicks. They cling to the ultimate "what ifs" of climate change, ponder the possibilities of nuclear doom, and generally seem spellbound by simulations of how, and when, the Earth may tumble into oblivion.

I'm not one of those people, but I do happen to live with one. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have gone to see 2012. I wasn't putting any stock in the story line, but the reels of chaos in the previews looked worth watching. Who wouldn't want to see every major structure on earth destroyed? Well, theoretically at least.

I was at least counting on liking the special effects. Most modern action movies rely heavily on computer generated images. It saves cost, the technology is brilliant, and if it's done right, you'll feel like the imaginary is in fact interacting with reality. A lot of the scenes in 2012 just didn't convince. About five of them were really good, but most were just average.

The second problem was the acting. If the world really were ending, in such a violent manner, I would probably be 600 times more affected than the characters in this movie. The child actors actually came across more convincing as far as terror. Which brings me to the third issue.

Disaster movies are usually stoked by suspense. The hero almost falls down an elevator shaft, almost gets eaten by the monster, or almost swallows the poison pill... . There were just too many of those scenarios in 2012. Plus, when you're 20 minutes into a movie, you pretty much know the plane is going to take off - just in time - and take the good guys to safety. Otherwise, there'd be no more movie to watch. Two - well actually three - nick of time takeoffs in one movie, coupled with all the other "almosts" was a bit too much.

Speaking of planes and pilots, this movie also has way too many stereotypical conclusions for the characters. The saints live happily-ever-after, while anyone who's not 100% likable gets wiped out. Well OK, except one guy, but he just sort of disappears in the end, ironically when I actually did wonder what eventually happened to him.

Then there are those stereotypical moments when the fate of humanity is at stake, literally minutes to spare, yet the hero still has time to kiss the kid, make up with his wife (two kisses for her) then swim off to save the day. I actually found myself muttering, "Could you just hurry it up?" while rolling my eyes at the screen.

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