2012

2012. Photo / Supplied

Herald rating:

* * *

Verdict:

A dodgy script and lacklustre characters spoil the amazing special effects.

If you were impressed by director Roland Emmerich's disaster film

The Day After Tomorrow

, then you'll be blown away by this over-the-top visual effects extravaganza. It appears Emmerich was just getting started when he attempted to destroy the world in

Independence Day, Godzilla

and global warming adventure

The Day After Tomorrow

. In

2012

he takes apocalyptic destruction to a whole new level, with varying results.

The good news is, if it's tension and stunning images of the world coming to an end you're after then

2012

has it in bucketloads. If you're hoping it will be accompanied by a thought-provoking story, a discerning script and a lack of disaster cliches, then the bad news is you're out of luck.

Kicking off in present day India, a local scientist and his colleague, American scientist Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), make the terrifying discovery that solar flares from the sun are heating up the earth's core, which will result in a global cataclysm ending the world as we know it.

After Helmsley informs the President of the United States (Danny Glover) of what's going on, the world's top leaders secretly go about making survival plans for themselves, and a select few others. These plans are jeopardised when it becomes apparent the earth is going to implode earlier than expected.

While the scientists try to work out exactly what's going on, one ordinary guy, failed novelist Jackson Curtis (Cusack), manages to escape the first wave of destruction with his two kids, ex-wife and her boyfriend. How they manage to do this is completely implausible, and a good reminder that we're here for the ride rather than reality.

Emmerich isn't interested in how the world may be saved, but rather how people deal with the world ending. In fact you get the impression that Emmerich thoroughly enjoyed destroying California, Las Vegas, the White House (again), the Vatican and other religious landmarks. It's this non-stop action featuring cities being swallowed up into the earth, volcanoes erupting, and giant cruise liners being capsized by tsunamis that is gripping, and that keeps the tension running high.

Although the story is told from varying perspectives there is nothing profound about Emmerich's version of the end of the world. Saving humanity seems a pointless endeavour with Emmerich in such a destructive mode, and in the end there is no one interesting left alive to offer an intelligent or philosophical view.

Cusack is a breath of fresh air in this blockbuster, but laden with cheesy one-liners and a cliched script, none of the actors get the chance to outshine the special effects. 2012 is a film devoid of hope or heart, but if you like your disasters big and ballsy, then this should do the trick.

Francesca Rudkin

Cast:

John Cusack, Amanda Peet

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Running time:

158 mins

Rating:

M (Content May Disturb)