2012 is Great Disaster Movie Fun

2012 was just pure disaster fun in a movie package that lasted over two hours and left you wondering - where did the time go. In the world of 2012 it's all about the awesome special effects that show us the end of the world as people are left scrambling to survive as Earth shifts and crumbles all around them. 2012 is a wild ride and it is definitely worth taking, with your seatbelt securely fastened.

John Cusack plays Jackson Curtis a want-to-be unsuccessful writer that now makes money to pay alimony to his ex-wife (Amanda Peet), as a limousine driver. He's camping in Yellowstone Park with his two kids when they leap a fence into a government controlled area. Seemed a bit of overkill to have mass helicopters and jeeps coming at one guy and two kids. That's not what you normally see in Yellowstone, but this is 2012.

They are told that there is just a geologic anomaly that is being studied and sent back to camp. Meanwhile over the radio the local Yellowstone pontificator Charlie Frost, played amazingly well by Woody Harrelson, is sending his message of the impending apocalypse upon the earth. We find out that Charlie calls a trailer in Yellowstone his permanent home. Also in that home is a map that shows Jackson exactly where a secret. Government- run Noah's Ark-like operation is being prepared.

It turns out that a scientist discovered a couple years back from 2012 that solar flares caused these things called mutant neutrinos that essentially are microwaving the core of the Earth. This causes some pretty nasty 2012 phenomena and makes for an excellent disaster flick. First signs are massive cracks that just start appearing in sidewalks and then through a grocery store. After that 2012 gets ugly when whole cities are destroyed, there are massive earthquakes and then tsunami's as the Earth's tectonic plates shift and move.

Jackson, his family, his wife's new husband - who thankfully seems to know how to fly, manage to avoid 2012 disaster death by flying over it a few times. Meantime back in Washington it seems that the President has been working with other world leaders to put in place a contingency plan that includes secretly hiding world treasures and collecting money from the rich and famous for a ride once the hell-on-earth disaster of 2012 begins.

The President has second thoughts on that and stays behind to let he people know that they have no chance and to let them say good-by to their loved ones. There is the requisite politician in 2012, played by Oliver Platt, that insists on following the rules to save mankind. But in a moral victory Adrian Helmsley, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, convinces them all that to keep their humanity they have to show humanity.

The whole humanity question is really unnecessary for 2012. This is a movie that knows exactly what it is supposed to do - entertain in a classic disaster film format. And with that expectation 2012 packs quite a punch. Make sure to get the large bag of popcorn and soda and sit back and enjoy the 2012 ride.

Sources:

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/11/review-2012/

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1626191/story.jhtml