Roland Emmerich destroys the world again

Rating: 7/10 (27 November 2009)

Using the basis of a Mayan prophecy that says the world will end in December of 2012, Roland Emmerich brings us another mega special effects extravaganza that is about as good as most of his other movies, excluding Godzilla of course. The special effects are grand, as always, and the characters have their own humor which makes them more interesting. THis movie actually comes close to and reminds me of Michael Bay's first Transformers movie because it uses the same kind of sense of humor to keep your interest, and gives you a lot of special effects to chew on.
THe plot is simple. December 2012 comes and the entire world is suddenly being wiped out by major earthquakes, volcanoes, and very gigantic waves that manage to reach the highest peaks in the world. A radio deejay, played lovingly by Woody Harrelson who we last saw in the humorous Zombieland, of course stated that all of this would happen. Most didn't believe, and those that did died, so that the secret would never be let out of the bag and cause major panic. Yep, you got it, the government assassinated them all, especially the US Government. Old Roland doesn't seem to much care for our government, as he has made the US Government look bad in just about every single movie he's ever made.
2012 is mad fun, and the effects out do all the ones that the director has done before. THe characters have their own tics and are made likable for the most part, except for a couple here and there, but most of those couple die by the end of the movie anyway. Nothing surprising there, but there are millions upon millions of innocents that die as well since the entire movie is based around the entire world being destroyed and all. Just like all of his other films, Emmerich's latest movie ends with a feeling of hope even after the end has come and gone.
THe build up to the film was nice, and when the disaster's finally hit there is no let down. The movie impresses in its own way, but it's a shame that we couldn't get much of a real story out of it, The ending does seem to drag on a little too long, but hey, the director does with the movie what was expected, and for that, it's a success