Not quite the end of the world, but more than likely the end of Roland Emmerich's career

Rating: 1/10 (22 November 2009)

There are some movies that should just really not be made. 2012 isn't one of those, but its incredibly awful execution really makes you wish otherwise. What was a good idea (though it was the same good idea we saw in Emmerich's The Day After Tomorrow... and so many other films of this nature) had potential. There was a lot of money behind this thing, obviously, but it would appear that all this money went towards the effects. The effects are stellar for the most part, but are so over done that you truly feel the extent to which the filmmakers failed in every other way. The plot is dumb, the acting, with the notable exception of Woody Harrelson playing... himself, is hard to watch, and the effects, believe it or not, are not worth it. I say this not because they were anything short of amazing, but because there is so much effect that you find yourself sick of it. It's not always easy to sit through a brainless movie without good effects. But it's quite difficult to sit through a near 3-hour movie with only effects. The film had nothing else to offer. The attempts to ask moral and ethical question are skewed and ineffective. The characters are so expendable, as you will quickly discover, that it's nearly impossible to care about them. And the few characters that you do end up caring about are the ones that the filmmakers seemed to care the least about, and so they get very little screen time. The camera work is alright at times, though there are a few awkward switches between techniques.
If you, however, are only looking for a way to kill three hours, and you have not seen a lot of movies like this before, perhaps 2012 is for you. If you're looking for anything more to this film, though, you will likely be thoroughly disappointed. Don't spend 10 dollars on this, rent it on DVD, watch it on a big HD screen and huff a lot of propane, and this movie will be your favorite film of all time.
It is a bit sad, because I must say that Emmerich's films in the past, particularly Independence Day, were quite good. This one just isn't.
Hopefully Hollywood will figure out that bigger budget isn't always better movie... someday. For now, let us sit back and wait to see if James Cameron follows in Roland Emmerich's footsteps with his Avatar film.