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2012 (2009)

Director: Roland Emmerich

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58 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Read the director's guide the perfect disaster movie here

Let’s get the sniffy movie-snob protests out of the way. Yes, ‘2012’ is infantile. Yes, it treats the deaths of six billion people as little more than a tragic footnote. Yes, it’s about as interested in subtlety, narrative invention or character development as the Corkscrew at Alton Towers.But what a ride. There are moments – sights, sounds, special effects – that have never been seen or imagined before, sequences of staggering complexity, immaculate detail and breathtaking scale. In summary, it may seem like just another disaster movie, but this one is bigger, louder, crazier and more wildly exhilarating than anything previously attempted, even by Roland ‘Independence Day’ Emmerich’s own smash ’n’ grab standards.

The plot is little more than a framing device, the MacGuffin something to do with sunspots, plate tectonics and the Mayan calendar. The closest we have to a hero is John Cusack’s shambolic failed author Jackson Curtis, whose attempts to save his estranged family from a fiery death somehow involve Russian plutocrats, Himalayan plane crashes and Woody Harrelson in a fez.
But nobody goes to a movie like this for the storyline. This is disaster porn, and unashamedly so: pavements crack, buildings topple, crowds flee, planes plummet and world leaders scramble to save their own skins as the planet goes to hell in a handcart. Posterity will not be kind to ‘2012’ – and it definitely won’t work on DVD – but catch it on the biggest, noisiest screen available and approach it on its own terms, and it’ll knock your socks off.

Read the director's guide the perfect disaster movie here

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time Out London Issue 2047: November 12-18, 2009

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User reviews of this film

vivek said...

Posted on Jan 07 2012 11:53 i luv dis movie ......:'( wat a movie ....best movie i have ever seen...................ossssummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm :)P):):):):)

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jimmy said...

Posted on Oct 19 2011 19:11 i thought the film was shite i agree with johnathan ross if the world does end in 2012 at least ill never have to sit threw a film like this again from my point of view more people die watching this film then they do actually in the film.

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alex said...

Posted on Jan 31 2011 10:41 i love it to bits i need a box of tissues next to me yep me a wimp by alex at hopwood hall

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pike said...

Posted on Jan 13 2011 11:49 jock a cock

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chels/jane said...

Posted on Jan 12 2011 11:46 we loved it it was fab i could wach it over and over again
it makes us cry i dont want the world to end boo hoo

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matty murry said...

Posted on Jan 12 2011 11:37 i loved it it made me cry i have wet dreams

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big hairy jew said...

Posted on Jan 12 2011 11:31 it crap

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Mathew said...

Posted on Apr 28 2010 14:38 I feel pleased for those of you who only wasted 4 pounds at Blockbuster, I sadly bought the DVD. All I can say is that during the film, as I´m sure many of you were, hoping for the end of the World. Drivel. The lead actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor, in his first major role, looked at all times as¨though he was celebrating this fact. ¨Wow, it´s my first major film. His facial expressions totally at odds with reality. The end of the world is about to take place and he looks as though nothing more serious has happened than he´d forgotten to take a DVD back to Blockbuster

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Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Apr 26 2010 22:14 I agree with Andy, poor movie, Jock you truely are an Idiot! Why comment on My review? We all have our own views, we can't all think like you! Thank goodness!

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Andy S said...

Posted on Apr 21 2010 08:33 Just awful, in every sense of the word. Hammy performances, a bored looking John Cusack, awful CGI (too many blue screens) and special effects left out of ‘The Day After Tomorrow’. That was pretty bad, but nothing compared to this overlong, silly, implausible, tripe. Four quid I’ll never get back from Blockbuster….4 stars? What a blinking joke! Appalling.

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Suzy said...

Posted on Apr 02 2010 23:35 I was bored. I was probably expecting too much though as I was looking forward to watching it and missed it when it was in the cinema. Weak and unbelievable story line with poorly developed characters but excellent special effects. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it better in the cinema? Glad I saw it though.

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blib said...

Posted on Apr 02 2010 07:35 All the world leaders (including Obama Glover) decide to sacrifice themselves excepy our octogenarian Queen. they truly dislike us the Yanks dom't they?

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Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Jan 01 2010 15:51 Jocklett I do happen to go cinema for visual, but the cgi was worse than Playstation 1 graphics! I was looking forward to this film for years and I don't enjoy slating it but I found it rubbish and rushed. Earthquake scene was funny tho!

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puffbother said...

Posted on Dec 31 2009 22:32 predictable but soo much fun. It's loud gets your heart going, adrenalin rush and whoosh your part of it. lol

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max said...

Posted on Dec 31 2009 10:44 this should not be a 12a it should be at least a 15 it scared my sister (11)

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