Too Much To Believe

Rating: 6/10 (20 March 2010)

I much anticipated this movie and saw it on its opening night. Having waited until its release on DVD (Blu Ray in this case) to write a review, I'm glad I waited. As eye-candy, 2012 is a total feast. The CGI action and rendered scenes are simply jaw-dropping, well done. The concept is somewhat flawed scientifically, though this is well explained by the scientific adviser in the 'Special Features' section of the disc.
The acting by Cusack and the rest of the crew is as good the script allows, and that's not much. But dear me, who is responsible for the screenplay and editing? How many times can our hero and crew make last-second escapes from seemingly hopeless situations before we throw up our hands and say "Enough!"? How many plane escapes from huge pyroclastic flows? How many car/van escapes, gaping hole escapes, underwater escapes, before you realize that whoever was putting this together must be assuming that the audience are morons? But here's the biggest surprise of all. This movie could have been so, so much worse. The alternate ending shows just how really dumb this movie really could have been. You can see Chiwetel Ejiofor grimace with incredulity when he takes the phone call from his not-really-dead Dad and says "I can't believe it!". And Segal with his arm in a shoulder-sling also grimaces, everyone in the scenes does. The deleted scenes also tell this tale, and really anyone that comments on 2012 *without* seeing these scenes and alternate ending hasn't quite got the full picture.
6/10 for brave acting with a mediocre script, amazing CGI and foolish implausibilities.