kinda good b-movie...or not

Rating: Null/10 (22 October 2011)

This movie reminds me of all different kinds of action/adventure movies
Emmerichs Independence Day - all the nations of the world unite to save the world, and the human kind.
Emmerichs The Day After Tomorrow - movie about the problems with global warming and the lack of things done in time
Indiana Jones - a hero escapes death several times with his ex and some kids, and an Asian guy, while following a map to reveal a secret that can save mankind....plus references e.g. like the Russian girl flipping the bird at the arch JUST before the hatch closes (try imagine a hat instead of someone flipping the bird)....Oh yes also the arch....A person searching for the arch, with a map that reveals the location
Star Wars - basically with the introduction of the arches it became kinda looking like Star Wars, and felt like it...plus the American captain was really going for the "was I not in Star Wars? Oh, I thought so!" game
In a way, he has combined all these movies to make this. This is actually what makes it good! All the clichés are used and done well. there is also reasons why I don't like it though, and they kinda ruin the movie.
The movie is having trouble developing all the characters and give them time to make the problems interesting. they are introduced in a way that you know "oh, they don't like him now...but they will love him later" and "why did he talk with that guy again? don't the government know what he is doing as he is CALLING HIS FATHER FROM THE WHITE HOUSE?!"
The story is a big mess. Yes it is a b-movie so you kinda just go "blah blah earth is going to blow up, how do they survive?" at it. Looking at the story, it is just plain weird. don't know how the sun flares can warm up the earths core....something feels like Bulls**t. The other thing is: What are the plan for the people SURVIVING the disaster? NOT including the arches?! What do they do with the countries when the water goes back in its place after the tsunamis? i wondered why they would build those big arches, give all the rich and "selected" persons tickets for then suddenly go without them. Who was on the ships? the "selected"?! and a short sidetrack: HOW WAS QUEEN ELISABETH SELECTED? if it was for the best survival of the human race...why select and 70 year old woman WHO CANT HAVE CHILDREN? are they insane?! it doesn't make up, who was in the rooms, if it was not the people with the tickets?!
Africa and The Drakensberg mountains was raising, and became the largest point on earth. fair enough, but what about those who survived there? What about those who survived when the landmasses, elsewhere, either raised or just NOT got flooded? What would the "selected" people do when encountering survivors at the sea? shoot them? the last thing is, Why wasn't there ANY planes besides the big Aronov and the helicopters with the animals? What about holiday travelers?! There is also a question about the whole "pole switching" as the pilot was going for the place in china...why didn't he think that he might alter his course WHEN THEY KNEW THAT THE POLES WERE SWITCHING?! if he didn't know, Wouldn't HE KNOW AS THE ROUTE WOULD TAKE HIM ELSEWHERE?! HOW can they be so stupid?! it is mentioned but not explored in detail. it is not mentioned it would, well, INFLICT TROUBLE ON EVERY SINGLE MACHINE DEPENDING ON THE POSITION OF THE POLES!
it doesn't make any sense that the government was lying all up to the point, when the earthquakes ransacked the town of the main characters! WHY would a country do that? Are the government in reality lying about e.g. earthquakes or hurricanes? NO! always they are warning and trying to get people out, if they are in trouble. They are NOT saying "well there is no trouble now, the worst is....OH NO! THE HURRICANE IS STRIKING!!!AAAARGH!" It doesn't make any sense!!!!
it doesn't make any sense to make the stupid arches AS THERE IS NO POINT! The human race isn't in danger of being started all over again, as there WOULD be survivors outside of those damn ships! And besides, HOW did the Chinese build this WITHOUT ANYONE NOTICING THE PRODUCTION AND THE Amount OF MATERIALS? Yes there is billions of Chinese people but...HOW CAN YOU BUILD 4 ARCHES IN A FEW DAYS?! even the Chinese cannot, no matter how many people they are!
There is points with horrible blue screen effects that just begs the question: WHY? if you placed all the money in effects, why not take to the maximum? Why end on bad effects at some points? low on cash there?! There is also the point with references and product placements. Bentely and Sony Vaio is apparently what we should buy, in case of Armageddon. There is other names I haven't even mentioned the whole "Aztecs said it 1000 years ago" NO! They didn't mention any sun flare, only reference to Aztecs is their calender. They didn't mention Armageddon or death or destruction...they only just said that at this day, 21-12-2012, the world would go into a new era, and their calender stopped. it doesn't mean destruction or anything, it could just mean change. So all this nonsense about Aztecs is just like Nostradamus and his prophecy about the world would end in 1999, BULLS**T!
I give it 3 stars as the effects are good, and it can be enjoyed as a typical b-movie. in the same time, it begs a lot of questions and the characters are not interesting enough to be taken seriously. So if you want to watch this movie, do it a day you have a hangover!