Perfect Escapism As The World Makes A Left Turn Into Bad Traffic

Rating: 8/10 (28 February 2013)

This is a Grade-A Disaster Movie, which means that human beings are put in jeopardy while their world falls apart: does anyone really take these things seriously? Some reviewers criticize Emmerich's films as if he were Ingmar Bergman, complaining about the lack of realism or about poor acting or thematic weakness. Why bother? These things are made as escapist fantasies, and Emmerich delivers. I suspect that most of us who really like an occasional escapist disaster, be it the old San Francisco film where everything falls down just after Jeannette MacDonald sings the title song, to The Towering Inferno, where everything burns up,again in San Francisco, are expecting thrills aplenty, and in this department, 2012 really delivers, with the earth's crust crumbling and spewing lava and tidal waves engulfing both the West Coast and Tibetan monasteries; John Cusack, with his air of earnest befuddlement is The Perfect Dad whose family is endangered, and there are lots of delightful cameos from such folks as Danny Glover as The President, and Woody Harrelson as a hippie broadcaster. This film is definitely not Citizen Kane or Nashville (or even Young Frankenstein!), but of its kind it's perfect, and delivers a cinematic fun-house ride with energy and dazzling imagery