entertainment above all else

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2019)

2012 is a AAA Blockbuster, a popcorn eating summer film, a movie one watches for a single reason: Entertainment. 2012 immediately establishes a visual style that can transition from ordinary scenes to special effects sequences nearly flawlessly. Pace is very well managed, and all the scenes follow a logical tempo - depending upon the nature of the given content. In other words this film is well produce and well directed.
2012 is a highly kinetic, outlandish natural disaster movie - that easily could be considered the best of this particular genre. The absurd, over the top nature of the special effects sequences has to be seen to be believed, and even more recent films like San Andreas are 2nd class compared to the audio visual display in this film.
Casting and performances are way better than one would expect in this type of movie - for all the action and spectacle? The characters carry this film from scene to scene, with no weak links. There are some stand out performances by Woody Harrelson (short but sweet) and Tom McCarthy (who's strait guy act in insane situations is so convincing, it's easy to overlook his excellent performance throughout the film).
While I'd consider this a movie the whole family can watch, there is an element of darkness in the content. While this movie isn't violent, implied violence occurs as a result of the disaster, regularly. Even the main characters face consequences, which is necessary to maintain the films tension.
I'm a huge fan of the overall morality of this film. It overtly maintains an optimistic attitude, while tragedy occurs in every major scene. Perhaps this is because this isn't a serious film, but it is an interesting dynamic regardless. The film clearly takes sides in any science vs religion debate - taking the side of science, which is perhaps ironic? Because many very basic scientific principles are regularly broken in order for this film to work stylistically. Not to mention the title of this film presents mystical prophecy. Regardless, I appreciate how this film presents this argument through storytelling, right from the opening scene.
I would say this movie gets off to a fantastic start, starting the tension off with big ideas. The first act is by far the best part of the movie. It's punctuated by (imo) one of the greatest special effect sequences ever created for the big screen. It relies heavily on computer graphic effects, and I think many viewers simply can not suspend enough disbelief to fully enjoy this scene, but if you can? Strap in! and enjoy the ride!
There is another noteworthy action scene that lives up to the first, but other that that - the effects come when needed to show the spread of destruction and chaos. This would be my one major critique of the film. The best scenes are in the first couple acts, then the final act is more about individuals being brave in much smaller scale scenes. While this allows more focus on all the main characters, I'd rather have the mother of all spectacle scenes to end the film, actually trumping the scenes earlier in the film.
But that may be a bit of a harsh critique, when really? This movie doesn't make any huge mistakes. The story is complete, characters are developed, and spectacular large scale scenes unfold in (somewhat) of a believable manner.
One more comment on the special effects. In all of the large scale scenes, the way water, chunks of earth and buildings crash against each other? It looks... realistic! I mean, if a 5000 ton chunk of a mountain was thrown a mile in the air and landed 100 meters away you in reality? It would probably look and sound something like the special effects in this film! While this movie relies heavily on computer graphics, all of the CG has an actual depth, and the consistency of the lighting in the CG that is combined with live action shots? All I can say is the visual style of this film is quite the achievement.
2012 was made for 200 million (quite a bargain, really) and made 150 million in the US and 550+ million overseas. So in a way 2012 is one of the movies that can be blamed for insipid AAA films that, attempting to gain the largest world audience, end up being an unwatchable mess to seasoned fans of films. But I would argue that movies like this and the original Charlies Angels had such great overseas success not because of universal appeal, but because they are examples of quality AAA films that emphasize entertainment above all other qualities. Great filmmaking still needs to occur! Emphasizing entertainment may cut some corners with logic and force an audience to suspend disbelief... but you can't make trash films like the Transformer sequels and then just expect they will succeed! And this is why I really appreciate 2012, and feel it holds up to multiple viewings. Regardless of its ridiculousness - 2012 contains a ton of quality film making.
Entertainment! 8/10