Swap Brain for Eyes

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2010)

No seriously. Leave your brain at the door. No, further...further...further. Okay scrap that, don't even bring it with you. Leave it at home. Cool. Now you'll enjoy this movie.
Roland Emmerich (let's remind ourselves that he made Independence Day and Day After Tomorrow here, just so we know what to expect) has stuck to what he knows, but blown it up (sometimes literally) to a bigger and more ambitious scale. The characters are paper-thin, the plot is unoriginal and linear, acting is average at best (even from Chiwetel Ejiofor, unfortunately), background is pretty much nil...Oh, did I say those were bad things? No, you've left your brain at home, remember?
2012 is a disaster movie, and probably the most epic of it's type topping only other Emmerich disaster movies. There is CGI. Lots of it. In fact, half the film is made up of CGI. Bad thing? No, most certainly not! (I always wonder why CGI in films is frowned upon...) The effects are breathtaking and truly epic. I mean, who wouldn't want to see the White House get mown down by an aircraft carrier propelled by a 2,000ft tidal wave?! Why does this all happen, you may ask. The answer is simple; it's not important. Of course, there's some vague explanation to some of the events that makes some sort of sense, but really, it's not important. Remember, you left your brain at home. Apart from some paper-thin, but necessary background to ease you into the action, this film is pretty much non-stop eye-candy. Watching Yellowstone National Park erupt was a particular highlight.
Also, keep in mind this is Hollywood. This is not real, so why should everything be realistic? Sure, it's a bit suspect that they happen to land in place X after suffering issues with problem Y only for group Z to come by a few seconds later, but again, this doesn't matter if you don't have a brain. So howcome he can fly a massive freighter plane? Doesn't matter, he just can. Also beware of time-wasting in an urgent crisis just to be sentimental and fairly obvious morals and messages, but they're endearing and make for a bit of happiness and joy in an otherwise bleak situation.
To those who have seen the movie (no spoilers follow), would you really have enjoyed it more if it was more realistic? I'd presume not. A realistic apocalypse would be a horrible thing to watch on a massive screen for 2 and a half hours. The main characters would die in the first few minutes and it would be impossibly depressing, hopeless and serious. Which brings me nicely onto my next point. This film is not serious, in no way, shape, or form. It's supposed to be a bit of light-hearted fun! And you know what? It succeeds. No it really does!
Me and my fiancée like our serious, deep, intelligent films, but we also like our mindless fun and eye-candy. We can leave our brains at home before watching a bit of entertainment. And you know what? We stuck this into our DVD player and we had fun. We were thoroughly entertained. You know what else? We regretted not paying to see it at the cinema when it first came out.
Rating with a brain - 3 or 4/10, Rating without brain - 8/10
Just have fun, yeah?