2012 (2009/I)

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writers (WGA):

Roland Emmerich (written by) &
Harald Kloser (written by)

Release Date:

13 November 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

We Were Warned.

Plot:

An epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.

Plot Keywords:

Cataclysm | Writer | Volcanic Eruption | Ark | Earthquake

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

John Cusack	...	Jackson Curtis
Amanda Peet	...	Kate Curtis
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Adrian Helmsley
Thandie Newton	...	Laura Wilson
Oliver Platt	...	Carl Anheuser
Thomas McCarthy	...	Gordon Silberman (as Tom McCarthy)
Woody Harrelson	...	Charlie Frost
Danny Glover	...	President Thomas Wilson
Liam James	...	Noah Curtis
Morgan Lily	...	Lilly Curtis
Zlatko Buric	...	Yuri Karpov
Beatrice Rosen	...	Tamara
Alexandre Haussmann	...	Alec
Philippe Haussmann	...	Oleg
Johann Urb	...	Sasha

Also Known As:

Farewell Atlantis (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language.

Runtime:

158 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44575) | Ireland:12A | UK:12A | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:PG | Norway:11 | Japan:G | Hong Kong:IIA | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Taiwan:PG-12 | Sweden:11 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Iceland:10 | Brazil:12 | Malaysia:U | Thailand:G | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

The character Jackson Curtis is the real name of 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) backwards. Director Roland Emmerich is a big fan of rapper 50 Cent and wanted to name his lead character after him.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The Antonov in which the main characters flee to China crashes because of empty fuel-tanks. But the explosion when it finally hits the ground after falling of the cliff indicates a large amount of fuel left. This may have been due to residual fuel in the systems of the plane, while not enough to keep the vehicle airborne, still sufficient to cause an explosion. (Furthermore, the plane may have had other volatile substances or liquids in it.)

Quotes:

Kate Curtis: [on the phone with Jackson] Hello?
Jackson Curtis: [in the limo en route to Kate's house] Kate, stop what you're doing.
Kate Curtis: Jackson?
Jackson Curtis: Listen to me. I've rented a plane. Pack up the kids, I'm gonna be there in five minutes.
Kate Curtis: What are you talking about? We're gonna do our regular Saturday. Noah has music at 2 and Lil has karate.
Gordon Silberman: Not gonna expect him to remember.
Jackson Curtis: Kate, California is going down! Pack up the kids now!
Kate Curtis: They just got back. God, you sound like a cray person. The Governor just said we're fine.
Jackson Curtis: The guy's an actor! He's reading a script! When they tell you not to panic...
[makes a hard left]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: January Jones/Black Eyed Peas (#35.6)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Can I Call You Baby

Funniest tragedy ever

There is now a long, grand history of disaster films in Hollywood. The best of the lot have combined suspense with cutting-edge effects to keep your adrenaline pumping. The worst combine cheesy CGI with shallow characters whose deaths won't affect you much.

Here's 2012, summed up: Look, some recognizable landmark! Kablam! Look, a giant wave! Wooo! Do our intrepid Good Guys have enough time to outrun the imploding planet and foil a plot to save only the pretty, rich people? Probably! It's pretty clear what happened to bring us to this point. Roland Emmerich, who's made such cinematic classics as Independence Day, The Patriot, Godzilla, and The Day after Tomorrow, was asked if he wanted a quintillion billion bazillion dollars to make a movie about the end of the world, and he said sure. Then he took parts of each movie's script, filmed them mostly with CGI, and pocketed the rest. Viola! Greatest movie! (A quick break to sum up the plot. Apparently, the sun and the planets have all aligned with the center of the galaxy, which winds up causing the Earth's crust to break up, which then causes the tectonic plates to shift. Mass hysteria! Dogs and cats, living together! The End.) See, there are two ways Emmerich could have gone with this movie. He could have given us characters to follow whom we cared a little about, thus involving us in their plights, and mixed in some convincing special effects. Or he could have said, "The heck with the characters, give me blowy-uppy thingys." This sometimes works: See Independence Day, a movie that made me feel pretty good when I left the theater after seeing it but that ultimately, frankly, was pretty bad.

Emmerich chose the latter. Which would have been fine, but the effects themselves are wildly unrealistic and often take so long to set up that you completely notice how godawful they really are. For example – and if you've seen the trailer, this is in there – there's a scene in which the Sistine Chapel falls, crushing thousands of spectators. Because the toppling is so slow to complete, it becomes painfully obvious that it's just a film running on a screen behind people running away. Sad and unintentionally hilarious.

And you can forget about the plot, really, because most of it makes no sense anyway and would happen only in a Big Movie like this. Of COURSE John Cusack is divorced from his hot, bitchy wife (Amanda Peet) and of COURSE she's hooking up with a plastic surgeon who of COURSE winds up having had some flying lessons that of COURSE will save them all and of COURSE Cusack's young son will somehow save the day as well and of COURSE there is a Russian businessman who used to be a boxing legend and of COURSE he punches someone out. And of COURSE people say "My God!" a lot, because that's what people do in crappy disaster films. And of COURSE the president is black, because in Hollywood black people get to be president only if disaster is a-coming.

At least the acting isn't horrible. Because everyone just runs from place to place in an effort to escape the horror, there aren't any subtle, low-key scenes that would allow good actors to flourish. Cusack is good in general, but what the heck is he doing in here? He's usually so good at picking projects, and he chose this? Willingly? Oliver Platt plays the kind of role that Bruce McGill typically gets, the hamhanded, I'm-in-charge, Al-Haig-like politician. I can't even remember his title. Danny Glover gets to be president and does get the best dialog in the film, even if his role isn't a big one. Woody Harrelson, as a crazed DJ deep in Yellowstone is also a lot of fun, although he's not the kind of guy you'd want to sit next to on a transatlantic flight.

Final verdict: Yikes. Yikes, yikes, and yikes. If you dare watch this travesty, you might find yourself laughing hysterically at things – and this is important – that were not meant to be funny. If that's your thing, this is your movie. I managed to see this as a matinée, so I'm not out the $10-$15 that some people are right now, so at least I got that going for me. Best advice: Watch it for free at home on a big-screen TV to fully appreciate the magnitude of suck.