2012 (2009)
Country: US
Technical: col/2.35:1 158m
Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover
Synopsis:
Strange waves emitted by the sun in unprecedented quantities cause the Earth's core to heat up and the crust to destabilize. Mankind prepares for the inevitable cataclysm by building vast arks to evacuate the lucky few.
Review:
The director returns to devastate the United States a third time and drops an aircraft carrier on the White House. Special effects of quite staggering scale are diminished by the clear invulnerability of certain characters in a series of gauntlet-running last minute escapes. Of the film's two storylines, that of feckless father reuniting with his family is devoid of interest but is there to show us the everyman perspective on events. The government scientist and White House staff strand provides more fun but similarly does not steer clear of cliché. Particularly reprehensible is the tendency to sacrifice characters once they have served the overriding narrative purpose of getting the Cusacks back together. In short, the epitome of the 'bigger is not better' adage: The Towering Inferno garnered far more concern for its imperilled movie stars, even though critics at the time denied this was the case. Script is everything.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.35:1 158m
Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover
Synopsis:
Strange waves emitted by the sun in unprecedented quantities cause the Earth's core to heat up and the crust to destabilize. Mankind prepares for the inevitable cataclysm by building vast arks to evacuate the lucky few.
Review:
The director returns to devastate the United States a third time and drops an aircraft carrier on the White House. Special effects of quite staggering scale are diminished by the clear invulnerability of certain characters in a series of gauntlet-running last minute escapes. Of the film's two storylines, that of feckless father reuniting with his family is devoid of interest but is there to show us the everyman perspective on events. The government scientist and White House staff strand provides more fun but similarly does not steer clear of cliché. Particularly reprehensible is the tendency to sacrifice characters once they have served the overriding narrative purpose of getting the Cusacks back together. In short, the epitome of the 'bigger is not better' adage: The Towering Inferno garnered far more concern for its imperilled movie stars, even though critics at the time denied this was the case. Script is everything.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.35:1 158m
Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover
Synopsis:
Strange waves emitted by the sun in unprecedented quantities cause the Earth's core to heat up and the crust to destabilize. Mankind prepares for the inevitable cataclysm by building vast arks to evacuate the lucky few.
Review:
The director returns to devastate the United States a third time and drops an aircraft carrier on the White House. Special effects of quite staggering scale are diminished by the clear invulnerability of certain characters in a series of gauntlet-running last minute escapes. Of the film's two storylines, that of feckless father reuniting with his family is devoid of interest but is there to show us the everyman perspective on events. The government scientist and White House staff strand provides more fun but similarly does not steer clear of cliché. Particularly reprehensible is the tendency to sacrifice characters once they have served the overriding narrative purpose of getting the Cusacks back together. In short, the epitome of the 'bigger is not better' adage: The Towering Inferno garnered far more concern for its imperilled movie stars, even though critics at the time denied this was the case. Script is everything.