2012 the "movie"

After watching this film, I tweeted John Cusack (pictured above trying to avoid the fact that he's actually in this movie) the following: "Watched 2012. Wow. Almost shoulda watched Troll 2 again instead." Needless to say, he hasn't responded.

So, this film is a disaster movie in the vein of Airport, Towering Inferno, or The Poseidon Adventure. Basically, the type of movie that Airplane! made fun of so well. The one thing to learn from this film is that we look back on those movies with more nostalgia than they're worth. They are spectacle. Plain and simple. And 2012 knows that very well.

To summarize the plot, I wouldn't need to dig too deep into detail. Essentially, the earth is doing some re-structuring and large groups of the working class and the middle management are being cut. Fortunately, John Cusack is a limo driver who has an uncanny knack for surrounding himself with people who can get him safely to another group of people who will be equally beneficial. Three times in a row he is on the only airplane escaping a sinking runway and able to dodge the subsequent falling buildings. Then, once there aren't runways to land on anymore, his plane is miraculously closer to land because of the earth's shifty-business. Awesome. And even with all of this, the filmmakers still try to trick us into believing he's dead at the end. Cheap trick, filmmakers. Cheap trick.

In fact, this film is full of cheap tricks. Somewhere around 85% of the film is buildings and buses and subway trains all flying around amok because of the disaster. The other 15% is basically what I described above. So, in the end, I really can't blame Mr. Cusack. He probably only had to work for about a week on this movie anyway. I still would have suggested he turn it down though. I mean, it was made by the guy who made the American Godzilla movie. That one still stings.