Oh Look! More CGI!

Rating: 2/10 (17 April 2010)

Having very little to do with the Mayan calendar and its supposed threat of global doom in 2012 and more interested in being a CGI spectacle, this movie will most likely desensitize you to any impending crisis and make you wonder why you bothered watching it. Oh look, a CGI disaster. And another. And another. And ...oh look!...it's another one! Going to see a Roland Emmerich (director) film can be dicey at the best of times, and downright ugly if you're unfortunate. Arguably his greatest film was STARGATE which was spun off into a highly successful TV series on the SciFi Channel. But some fans are divided on others such as INDEPENDENCE DAY, GODZILLA and THE PATRIOT. Then we get into the "bad" category with MOON 44, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, and 10,000 BC (I think a little vomit came up the back of my throat for that last one).
If you've seen any world doom films in the past 15 years, you'll not see anything that'll surprise you here. Things like DEEP IMPACT and Armageddon are pretty much a dime a dozen nowadays. And so goes 2012 ...but with a really poor script and some serious miscasting.
Although John Cusack was an early childhood favorite of mine, starring in such low-brow comedies as BETTER OFF DEAD and ONE CRAZY SUMMER, he's grown into much more substantial roles in subsequent years, shining in HIGH FIDELITY, WAR, INC., and the astounding IDENTITY. But here John appears to have gone after the money. Reading the script, one can't help but wonder why anyone would choose to be in it. It really has no viable characters and relies solely on its massive special effects budget. But the actors did come. And not just Mr. Cusack.
Chiwetel Ejiofor (can anyone pronounce his name?) tries to give some additional star power but can't grab any traction, either. Too bad. He's become quite a versatile actor, going from the feminine KINKY BOOTS to the rugged SERENITY.
Thandie Newton (CRASH) gives the film even more eye-candy as the attractive daughter to the President. But here she is more caricature than character, giving some of the worst lines in the entire film.
Oliver Platt (FROST/NIXON) tries to play "the bad politician" and his lines, like Thandie Newton's, are so ridiculously contrived as to be laughable.
The only saving grace – acting-wise – was the role of Charlie Frost, a conspiracy theorist, played by Woody Harrelson (ZOMBIELAND). He so over-played the character that it made him fun to watch and not a chore.
So if you're looking for a good disaster movie, this ain't it. It has nothing for you to grab onto, except maybe pieces of the planet's crust ...and we see that more often than the actors themselves.