2012: Armageddon Outta Here!By Pete Misiak
WXYZ-TV Entertainment Reporter
2012 is a disaster. (Please note: I did not finish that sentence with the words "film" or "movie." Just "disaster.") I will give you this--you can certainly see where the money was spent. Costing an estimated $260 million,
2012 has the kind of special effects that are absolutely eye-popping, but when the action stops and the plot takes over, well, let's just say if you have to go out to the lobby and re-fill your popcorn bag, you won't miss a thing. And, at 2 hours and 40 minutes, how much end-of-the-world stuff can you absorb before it feels like your head is going to explode?
Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments.
2012 is about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.
It seems the Mayans thousands of years ago knew the precise date for the earth’s demise; December 21, 2012. (Be sure to get your Christmas shopping done early.)
2012 has no bad guy (can't blame George W. Bush for this one); instead, blame Mother Nature. Because of an alignment between the sun and the planets on that fateful date, the earth’s crust simply starts to melt, dragging worldwide civilization with it.
John Cusack stars as failed novelist Jackson Curtis, whose wife (Amy Peet) leaves him, taking their two kids, because Curtis pays more attention to his laptop than to her. A laptop over Amy Peet? Now THAT'S ridiculous!
It's been over five years since director Roland Emmerich destroyed the world with all kinds of inclement weather in
The Day After Tomorrow; 2012 feels like it's the filmmaker repeating himself at length. I do have to say that the destruction of Los Angeles as Jackson and his family barely outrun it is the film’s high point, but after that you still have to digest nearly two hours of story. I also enjoyed Woody Harrelson as a conspiracy-theorist radio host who’s proved right by the world coming to an end.
But the movie just goes on and on and on. I even got worried sitting there in the dark. Maybe it's called
2012 because it doesn't end until 2012?
Nah, it just feels like an eternity.
2012Rated PG-13
Running Time: 158 minutes
Pete Misiak is an award-winning news anchor and reporter at WJR-AM 760 and is also a member of WXYZ.com's Web Team. A former Big Band singer with Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians, Pete earned membership into Actors' Equity Association in 1982 and has appeared in over 60 productions as an actor and performer.
