2012 - The end of the world as we know it

 

You enter the theatre, the lights go out, and you go on the biggest roller-coaster ride of your life. It's not a movie, it's a thrilling experience that goes beyond anything ever produced, shot and directed before. 2012 is, by all means, the most important, over-budgeted and disastrous (in more than one sense of the word) movie of all time.

Director Roland Emmerich is known for trying to find new and innovative ways of destroying the world in all of his movies (see The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day, Godzilla). This time he spared no one. 2012 is a continuous stream of world destruction, where everything that can go wrong, will go wrong in every possible way. California literally crumbles to small pieces, shaken by thousands of earthquakes, Yosemite Park explodes in something that resembles a nuclear blast, the Sistine Chapel falls over a large number of people praying in front of it, the Washington Monument falls, Las Vegas casinos crumble like playing cards and the White House is wiped out by an enormous wave.

Of course, Emmerich does not forget the human side of the story. Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), a failed novelist, tries to save his former wife (Amanda Peet) and their two children from the imminent destruction.

There is no point in writing an actual synopsis of this movie. It's basically the end of the world, happening methodically through a series of fast paced action scenes, seasoned with some drama and way too many last-minute escapes. Cusack manages to cheat death at least 10 times in the movie, bringing condescending smiles to the faces of some viewers of 2012.

There is an important issue to be taken into consideration, however. This is not a movie with a psychological plot; this is not a movie with an intricate string of clues that will miraculously bring you, through wit and character to a soul-pleasing conclusion. Hell no! In this movie almost everybody dies a painful but immediate death; no goodbyes are said; the U.S. president is black, and dies along with the others and for some reason, only people from the G8 countries are saved. So, if this scenario ever happens, and if you're not American, Canadian, French, German, Russian, Italian, Chinese or Japanese, your chances to live are null.

2012 is a rollercoaster ride. You sit down and enjoy it. You don't think of the philosophical implications of the ride. Keep that in mind when you enter the cinema. 2012's chances to win more than a few Oscars, and those only for special effects, cinematography and maybe make-up, are close to zero.

2012 will be remembered, talked about and will remain part of our popular culture, somewhere on the same level as James Cameron's Titanic. Go see it, enjoy our world's destruction, and wonder why the hell people can still talk on a cell phone after three quarters of the world have been wiped out.