ultimate disaster?

Rating: 4/10 (9 January 2011)

After having destroyed a few times on very big screens Manhattan, Washington DC, the United States and the whole North America it was time for director Roland Emmerich to get to the ultimate stuff - destroying the planet. What better pretext to do this than the Mayan prediction that the end of the world will happen on 12/21/12 - neither sooner nor later? So here we have the Hollywood version of the Apocalypse with no angels or saviors in sight, humanity is on its own. Sun and planets align, the core of Earth overheats, the crust cracks and the whole humanity is swallowed by huge earthquakes and tidal waves as high as the Himalayas.
Well, almost the whole humanity. As in any other disaster films we do have our handful of survivors, some are bright scientists and some just your neighborhood mid-class Americans who will raise to the call of the hour. Inevitably there are some smart kids, ex-es who cancel their ex-ing one minute between the end of time and an American president who is too good or too smart to be elected but in the movies, etc., etc. Does this seem known? Well, because it really is. It's the same old, tired formula, and dialogs are worst than in many other such films, and situations are less then less than credible. But maybe the end of the world is not credible. Or is it?
If the script of 2012 is an unbelievable collection of clichés and dialogs competing for the most stupid lines ever said in a movie, the viewer is left with the special effects and on the good side these are really first class. Of course, everything is completely incredible, but the fun of watching the heroes escaping the sinking of California in the mother of all cars chases, or the series of monumental tsunamis destroying all the wonders of the world plus the UNESCO-protected monuments one of the other is undeniable. A 5 year old can fully enjoy this film. Most 15 years old will consider it crap. Those older then 55 (me included) may also enjoy it provided that they place themselves in the mindset of 5 years old kids.