2012 - Thoughts

Roland Emmerich for some time now has been known to set the bar when it comes to special effects. His favorite theme being disaster movies, wherein the earth and the human civilization takes beating after beating, with the entire process being depicted as visually splendorous as possible. This time around, an Indian scientist discovers that the radiation from unprecedented solar storms causes the earth’s core to heat to a point that its crust starts getting dangerously unstable. The US president is alerted of this, and he in turn talks to other world leaders, and they set out to formulate a plan to save at least a fraction of humanity. Also key to the story is writer Jackson Curtis who stumbles onto this information and then battles the odds to save his family.


The movie was quite long, weighing in at a little over 2 and a half hours; a time line more expected of our Indian movies. Thankfully the pace was well managed, with vital scenes placed back to back, to keep the audience glued. When the lights came on for the interval, it was the first time I had a chance to tune-out and think of a Coke. The effects were simply spectacular, and I don’t think there’s any movie out to date, to surpass 2012. The plot had elements that most should be used to, after watching movies like Independence Day, and The Day After Tomorrow: The world’s nations coming together, fighting unimaginable odds, human values, greed and pettiness, and the likes. On the whole 2012 had the right mix of effects, story, and actors to make it a worthwhile watch to pretty much any movie goers. Commercially the movie has been very successful; grossing over 3.5 times its production budget of 200 million USD.

There are several diverse smaller stories, connected to the main story, by means of government characters involved with the mission to save humanity. The only other large parallel was that of Jackson Curtis and his family. John Cusack performed admirably in this role; he came off as a man still partially living as a bachelor from his failed marriage, while very much in love with his wife and crazy about his kids. For Amanda Peet, playing the mom was possibly a first, as I’m more used to seeing her in lighter, more casual zany fun roles. That said, she did a decent job too. Looking back now I have no complaints. Chiwetel Ejiofor who played Adrian Helmsley the lead scientist liaising with the American president, depicted beautifully a man of science who was still driven by his heart; his conversation with his jazz player dad being one of the most intense and moving scenes in the movie. Woody Harrelson as Charlie Frost was brilliant; portraying outstandingly the crazy radio man, personally covering and broadcasting his chaos theory. Though there was a lot of star power, and strong characterizations, don’t expect too much character development from the smaller pieces. Considering the length of the movie, its focus and pace, I think the blend was just right.

I watched this movie in the theatre on a large 70mm screen. The large screen size did justice to the scale of the effects and destruction. Video was clear and sharp, with no post processing color tones applied. I’d expect the DVD release to be similar. Sound was good, and the surround stage was used very well. This was noticeable even in simple day to day scenes, and then in the more important visually intense scenes where it helped bring natures mutiny to life.

My Recommendation: Kick Ass (Though the recommendation could drop with time and the release of other movies that might take special effects up a notch higher)