Fx++

Rating: 8/10 (4 December 2009)

I went to see 2012, expecting it to be nothing more than a simple distraction - a 'shock-and-awe' style FX fest... to my surprise it turned out to be somewhat more...
Indeed there is little in this film that isn't handled well, and few bits that were not didn't really matter. Here's the basics: The visual design work on show here is truly spectacular on every level, and was largely what I paid to see it for, so full points there. Cinematographically this really is a treat, with endless shots of assorted landscapes falling to bits, blowing up, and making life in general quite difficult for people. Equally well-designed are the camera placements amid the carnage, which is showcased in what I never found not to be a massively impressive way.
But the film really is much more than that. I dislike lack of credulity in films, and aside from the slightly ridiculous thing about the Mayan Calendar at the beginning, I was largely convinced that things were plausible. This even extended to the numerous 'flight-from-peril' sequences, which manage to walk exactly on the line of 'feasible' and 'unpredictable' most enjoyably. More than once I genuinely wondered if the current hero of the moment was going to make it.
Acting is solid and believable throughout, and I found myself genuinely sympathetic with most of the characters in it. As a result, during the numerous moments of tearful goodbyes between relatives I was rather glassy-eyed myself, and felt connected with their plight.
What IS nice is that the sentimentality-factor is not overplayed, as is so often the case. Warm, heart-felt and touching do not often lapse into simpering and nauseating, and although the 'Hero America' factor is still very much in evidence, it's not massively horrible.
'Bad people getting their just deserts' is also present and correct, though surprisingly not often in the ubiquitous 'awful death' type way, and often there are twists in situations that reverse things, making bad people do good things, and vice-versa.
Lastly, it's all put together well, and skillful editing ensures we all know what's going on most of the time, even as we concurrently follow a number of characters in their own struggles.
Scored dramatically, acted well, and hugely lovely in the 3D department, anything I could find wrong it was rendered (no pun intended) unimportant. Worth a see in a cinema if you can, or at least on a massive screen.