Bit more script would be nice

Rating: 5/10 (11 December 2009)

I am gonna admit it..I actually saw Transformers 2 AND this movie in one week. I probably never saw so much CGI in one week. And if these two movies prove one thing it's that pretty much anything can be done, and can be done believably, with CGI and enough money.
These movies also prove that no matter how much money you spend on CGI, the movie is still not gonna amount to much if the money to pay for the CGI comes out of the script budget. While the effects are spectacular, once again the script is anything but.
I do have to give the writers some credits though, since unlike the abysmal Transformers, at least this movie has some amusing characters (mostly Woody Harrelson) and some OK jokes.
Sadly, everything else comes directly from the Big Book of Disaster Movie clichés. Relations get repaired, annoying characters get killed off in amusing ways, cute animals are spared since killing them would be too much for the audience, whereas millions of people die horribly for the sake of entertainment. And of course there are plenty of emotional scenes with bombastic music in the background that are so overdone, so badly written and so pointless that they become unintentionally funny.
Yes, it's all very spectacular, it truly is. Never before have I seen destruction on this scale. It's a shame that the movie tries so hard to be spectacular that all plausibility is thrown out of the window. The amount of close calls, near escapes and utterly silly situations is so high that it becomes very hard to suspend disbelief. I can buy tidal waves that flood the entire world..I don't buy a group of misfits taking off in an airplane just in time no less than three times.
"2012" does have its moments, but it has a script that is so plagued with clichés, fake sentiments and overall goofiness that it becomes a bit of a chore to sit through, especially given the very long running time and the endless repetitions.