Predictable Hokum

Rating: 6/10 (29 November 2009)

Firstly, if special effects are your 'thing', then you will adore this movie. They have crammed so many into the movie, that you will want to watch it again and again. You will see tiny figures clinging to the wreckage of crumbling buildings as they crumble into the bowels of the earth. There are the spectacular losses of world famous landmarks, and the associated death of panic stricken onlookers. For those with Blue Ray and HD TV's, this will be a slow motion voyeurs dream as you watch these scenes unfold.
However, if like my wife and I you like a good story, then this is not for you. The story is a minor incidental part of the movie. Whats worse, the script is very B moviesque. "But it's a suicide mission!" "I'll do it". Cue much kissing and hugging while I muttered, "get on with it then". A huge crack is racing towards the escaping car/plane (insert mode of transport) and you just know they have to escape because the films still got 2 hours to go. Then there's the speech by one of the main characters about cherishing family and so on, so you just know they will be dead very soon. It was cheesy and too predictable.
I read one of the other reviews, and he/she commented that this film had the potential to be truly great. If the quality of the script and storyline had even been half as good as the effects, then this could have been one of the greatest movies of recent years. Unfortunately, Roland Emmerich seems to have spent so much time and money on the effects budget, that they either didn't have time to do a good script, or they couldn't afford one of Hollywood's great writers to produce something memorable.
All told, it was well executed hokum. I had been looking forward to this for months, but the hype simply doesn't match the reality in any way.