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2012 (2009)

Director: Roland Emmerich

Time Out rating

Average user rating

28 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 2009-11-10 12:53:19

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

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User reviews of this film

sophie said...

Posted on Nov 23 2009 17:55 It was trashy...but brilliant.

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lauren said...

Posted on Nov 23 2009 14:40 the best bit is near the beginning when LA becomes a seething ocean of concrete, falling buildings and crazy flying trains- awesome! I couldn't stop laughing the chaos made me so happy. After that though? It's all a bit ho hum- mostly because the plot is so bad. One of the major dilemmas seems to be whether the 'people' are going to be told the world is coming to an end.... well aside from causing even more chaos and mass panic by doing that.... I think the 'people' might have already noticed... what with places like hawaii turning into a giant volcano and LA falling into the ocean...
Something I found fascinating about this film was how few countries actually constituted 'the world' basically, if you're involved in the G8 you count..... dude. Don't even get me started on the 'get the guys up here' and 'the guys better see this' while the women sit uselessly reapplying their lipgloss. This film was mildly insulting and very rah rah America. Beyond that, the first scenes of mega chaos just made me so happy I'm giving it three stars just for that.

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j grffith said...

Posted on Nov 22 2009 23:53 o dear,once again a film without a script and you couldnt careless what happens to the actors, you cant save a film by just special effects when will hollywood learn, how did it get a 12 a ratting!!!!

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Kate said...

Posted on Nov 22 2009 18:21 The first half of this movie filled me with glee with all the crazy destruction - then I started to notice the completely rubbish plot and characters you don't care about. Aerial stunts by trains and african fauna are fabulous in many ways and and Woody Harrelson's turn as a beardy-weirdy still make this well worth a look !though.

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Kate said...

Posted on Nov 21 2009 22:31 I like Kane's comment that you never know what is going to happen next!! I think it was pretty much the same story as The Day After Tomorrow, except with heat rather than cold. I really had an enjoyable time watching it although the story is crap and the end lame and not one believable moment. The world ends and and nearly everyone dies but that isn't sad at all in this film. It's a real feel-good all American type family film. Death and destruction being a 12A? It's fun but pure fantasy and full of jokes. . Don't know what effects Roland Emmerich will come up with next, he's done it all in this one.

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Lawrence said...

Posted on Nov 21 2009 20:20 The movie started slow, nothing different form other disaster movies but it took a different turn when the supermaket split in half. I love the scene when the volcano errupted. Good special effects. it felt like I was there.

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ashlee said...

Posted on Nov 21 2009 17:19 the closing line of the movie is: 'i'm not scared anymore daddy. no more pull-ups!'
enough said.

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Herbdebop said...

Posted on Nov 20 2009 22:13 Starts out impressively with great effects and tension but descends into a real turkey dinner with trimmings of scientific claptrap, gallons of schmalz and hammy acting. Could have been great....wadda waste of a budget!!

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violetta said...

Posted on Nov 20 2009 17:29 Ooohh, ahhh a rolller coaster disaster ride with the whole world falling to bits - highly entertaining. A big screen feast of 200million well spent. Go see and suspend belief.

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Linda Goodwin said...

Posted on Nov 20 2009 13:33 not as good as expected, special effects were brilliant but the story line was very poor and far fetched in places

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Salvo said...

Posted on Nov 20 2009 11:21 4 stars are too much. CLEVER storyline? DId I miss something? Independence Day, The ay AFter Tomorrow and then this one have the same storyline, you know who is going to die and WHO Will survive! Loosers that become heroes - give me a break!!! Special effects, don't make me laugh! (I.e. Giraffe in the sky?), 2 stars is more likely. Choose this movie only if the movie of your choice goes sold out while you are in the q!

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Alan said...

Posted on Nov 18 2009 11:09 For the TO reviewer to say that the plot and script didn't matter in this film is patronising and downright wrong. I love OTT effects movies but this was just boring. Yes, the effects look great, but they're not exactly ground breaking - Peter Jackson did all this years ago and that WAS worth seeing. It makes me feel quite sick when I think how this film's budget could have been spent.

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usman latif khawaja said...

Posted on Nov 17 2009 23:51 STE
WITH ALL THE TRASH YOU EAT YOU NEED YOUR HEAD FIXED -YOU FORGOT NACHOS AND CHEESE-

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keith scott said...

Posted on Nov 17 2009 21:42 i was so looking forword to c this movie the first 10 mins ok then downhill after the mouse falling into the cheese was terrible o sorry wrong movie

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Tom McMaster said...

Posted on Nov 17 2009 15:41 Great film! Non stop action and clever storyline.
Special effects are the best ever seen on the cinema screen in my opinion.
Go and see it!

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