Not Bad

Rating: 5/10 (29 November 2009)

Ever since this movie was announced I was waiting for it. When its release date was pushed back, I was disappointed but still I waited for it. At one point, I thought that Roland Emmerich has finally made a good and enjoyable movie and not just enjoyable. Independence Day, The Day after Tomorrow, Stargate and Godzilla were bad but still enjoyable (and don't mention that steaming pile of excretions that is 10,000 BC). It finally came out and I was eager to watch it. I saw it yesterday and I was... disappointed. I was expecting a better story and a lot more destruction but this IS the ultimate disaster movie with more disaster than in any other movie. ----------------------SPOILER LINE--------------- Our main character here is Jackson Curtis. The problem here is he's not supposed to be the main character; Dr. Helmsley should've been the main character. His family escaping this movie is a cliché storyline. And by escaping the disasters I mean ESCAPING-AT-THE-LAST-SECOND style. That was my main problem. The villain in this movie is nature itself. It really leads to some great scenes. Nothing much to say here. The supporting characters are basically the rest of Jackson's family. President Wilson (Danny Glover). By the way, why was Danny Glover in this movie? His acting sucked! This movie actually had a lot of likable characters like I said, Dr. Helmsley, and Gordon. The story of this film is good enough, I guess but it could've been so much more. The acting is decent, it isn't over the top amazing as in Tom Hanks good but not too bad that you face palm the whole movie. The direction is also good enough. There are some scenes where you really feel that you're part of the disaster. And this movie did feel sad at a few moments. The scene where Dr. Helmsley is talking to his dad knowing that he won't survive was sad. The scene where the Indian family wasn't picked up and they show their love for each other one last time as the tsunami hits them was one of the saddest scenes in film history. And finally the scene where Dr. Helmsley is convincing the guys at the ship to let the other people in was also kinda sad. It's the end of the frickin' world! The visuals are ultimately the best of the year. It wipes out Transformers 2 and District 9. District 9 is pretty close though. The two stand-out scenes however was the destruction of Los Angeles and the eruption at Yellowstone. These two scenes were so awesome to watch in the theatre. However, the first act of the movie had a destruction of a store as the stand out scene and overall, not bad. The second act had the two stand-out scenes but at the end, the destruction was Day After Tomorrow again. Just flooding... That was disappointing. Overall, I still enjoyed it and I give 2012, 83% awesome.