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Disaster movies are not a new genre, but it’s a genre that doesn’t always yield good movies.
Luckily, “2012” is a jewel in the genre’s crown, full of fun characters, crazy special effects and, of course, a ridiculous plot.
The movie follows two main groups of people: scientist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and a group of people from the government, and author Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) and his family, ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet), her boyfriend Gordon (Tom McCarthy) and children Noah (Liam James) and Lily (Morgan Lily).
In 2009, Adrian is informed by a fellow scientist that the world, as we know it, is going to be destroyed. The sun is going to heat up the earth’s core, which will cause volcanos and earthquakes and tidal waves. The G-8 countries, led by American President Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover), decide to build some arks, put people and animals on them, and try to rebuild humanity after the global cataclysm. They, of course, sell seats on the ships to the highest bidders.
Fast forward to 2012, and Jackson Curtis takes his kids to Yellowstone National Park. He finds a government installation in the middle of Yellowstone (and meets Adrian Helmsley briefly in the process), then finds out about the end of the world and the ships from a conspiracy theorist named Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson). When the craziness hits, Jackson scoops up his family and tries to get to China, where the ships are located. Meanwhile, the world (starting with California, of course) is falling apart around them.
The special effects are the real stars in the movie. Once the destruction starts, it’s truly impressive and quite entertaining. There are car chases with smoke clouds, canyons and explosions coming up behind them, oceans crashing into mountains and world landmarks crashing down on large crowds of people. Most of it is totally unbelievable, of course — I doubt that a limo could jump a giant crack in the earth, or that an airplane would barely make it between two buildings falling into each other.
But a movie with special effects is nothing without an entertaining story. Really, I was much more invested in the characters than I would have expected. The right characters were intensely likable and well-acted, and the villains of the story were entertaining.
“2012” was nothing but pure entertainment. There was no message above a general theme of humanity — no preachiness about global warming and no warnings except, maybe, to watch out for Dec. 21, 2012. It’s certainly not thought-provoking or inspirational, but “2012” is highly entertaining and definitely worth the price of admission.
Jenny’s Take: See it before it leaves theaters.
(Rated PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language. Runs 158 minutes.)
Ride a tidal wave over to Jenny’s blog at www.fwdailynews.com/jenny.
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