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2012 (2009)

Director:
Roland Emmerich
COUNTRY
USA/Canada
GENRE
Science Fiction/Action
NORWEGIAN TITLE
2012
RUNNING TIME
158 minutes
Producer:
Harald Kloser
Mark Gordon
Larry J. Franco
Screenwriter:
Harald Kloser
Roland Emmerich


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Jackson Curtis John Cusack ½
Dr. Adrian Helmsley Chiwetel Ejiofor
Kate Curtis Amanda Peet ½
Noah Curtis Liam James
Lilly Curtis Morgan Lily
Dr. Gordon Silberman Thomas McCarthy
Thomas Wilson Danny Glover
Dr. Laura Wilson Thandie Newton
Carl Anheuser Oliver Platt
Yuri Karpov Zlatko Buric
Tamara Beatrice Rosen
Charlie Frost Woody Harrelson
Tony Delgatto George Segal

 

Review

In classic Roland Emmerich style, 2012 focuses on microscopic effects of a plotting which is so large that the German director's treatment of it never can be even close to satisfactory. Instead, Emmerich stays concerned with family ties, unsympathetic bad guys and the heroic efforts of the ordinary man, as usual. A simplification which, in the midst of this overproportioned yarn, probably is welcomed for most viewers. As such, 2012 delivers what it promises; a large-scale disaster with a simple point of view and digestible chunks of melodrama. It has basically the same strengths and weaknesses as The Day After Tomorrow, that is to say an enthralling idea that with a handful of rewrites by talented writers and substantially more subtle direction could have resulted in an important entry in the disaster subgenre. 2012 is not that. Depending on how many questions you feel you owe your sense of logic to ask, this film can provide useful, CGI-driven entertainment at best.

 

Copyright © 7.3.2011 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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