“2012” by Roland Emmerich Report (Assessment)

Introduction

The movie 2012 is a sci-fi science fiction disaster film released on 11^th November 2009. Its filming began in August 2008 in Vancouver and its DVD and Blu-ray are due for release on March 2010. It was to be released on July 2009 but the date had to be changed to November 2009 because the movie director anticipated that the global financial crisis would have subsided by then, prompting an increasing number of individuals to watch the movie. On 13^th November 2009 the movie was released in Sweden, UK, Canada, Mexico, India, United Arab Emirates, and the U.S, among other countries. In these countries, most cinemas set their screening time to 2012 hours (24 hour clock) to coincide with the film’s title.

The movie characters are evading a series of disastrous incidences as they struggle to reach the Himalayas. Here, the government had prepared ships for purposes of saving the lives of its citizens following the crustal displacement they had experienced. This particular part of the film coincides with the Mesoamerican long count calendar which portrays a ‘doomsday’ in December 21^st 2012. The film has gained a lot of popularity both negative and positive. Negative for its lack of realism and positive in that it is a real thriller, entertaining and will have you glued to the screen to its end to know the fate of the actors. This paper seeks to discuss the movie in detail, its plot, meaning, relevance and quality.

Descriptive Criticism

The film is directed by Roland Emmerich who together with Harald Kloser wrote the script. Columbia pictures are the movie’s distributors. It consist twenty four active actors prominent among them being John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton and Woody Harrelson. Its music has twenty four sound tracks with songs like ‘fades like a photograph’ by Filter and ‘it aint the end of the world’ by George Segal and Blu Mankuma. The movie starts in India where Dr. Satnam a geologist realizes the earth’s temperature is rapidly increasing as a result of microwave radiation. He tells his American colleague Adrian Helmsley who consequently inform the white house of the possibility of catastrophobic natural disasters. This result in a series of meetings with diplomats and a plan to save humanity is conceived, with secret construction of ships in the Himalayas. The ships are to be preserved for heads of governments though tickets are sold out to the private sector as well to raise funds for the project. Jackson Curtis, a writer and part time limousine driver for a Russian billionaire learns about Mayans predicting that the world would come to an end in 2012 from Charlie a conspiracy theorist while Jackson is camping with his children. Charlie also has a map for the secret project. Jackson’s suspicion makes him rent a plane to flee his family as cracks have just started in Los Angeles. They retrieve Charlie’s map after he dies in the eruption and joins another group with Jackson’s boss and his sons in Las Vegas where they head for China. At the same time, Air Force One is also headed for China with Adrian, the president’s daughter, and other dignitaries. The president chooses to remain behind and die with his people. More people die due to the ensuing earthquakes while Jackson’s plane crash just after entering China. Chinese army refuses to take Jackson and his family because they do not have tickets to the arks but a Buddhist monk rescues them. They finally board the ark whose engines are rendered inactive because one of the drivers is lodged between gears and the gates cannot close. Jackson and his son save the driver and the ark does not collide with Mt. Everest as expected. After the tsunami subsides, the ark resumes its sailing. It is headed towards Cape of Good Hope. Here, Jackson, a divorcee, enjoys a reunion with his family. On the other hand, Adrian is lucky to befriend Laura, the president’s daughter with whom they start a relationship.

Interpretive Criticism

2012 is a reminder of our duty to taking care of the earth. The tsunamis are as a result human activities, which causes abnormal solar flares which come with radioactivity and consequent heating of the earth’s core. The film also depicts human values like selflessness, admirable is the president’s and Adrian’s cause of staying with his people and admitting everyone in the ark despite disapproval respectively. Jackson and his son save the driver too. Loyalty is depicted by Jackson and the Russian billionaire to their families. Selfishness is punished with death for the billionaire who does not make it to the ark.

Evaluative Criticism

The movie’s graphics are at their best, the storyline balanced to give room for relaxation after traumatic events have occurred. However, some portions lack authenticity and are too ideal, like ability to fly after one lesson in pilot school! Sounds ridiculous, and it is also disappointing to think the world is ending, not many people want to imagine so (Dargis 81).

Conclusion

I would watch this movie again. Anyone with a liking for science fiction would refer to this as a classic disaster film. It is an awakening of things we have no control over.

Works Cited

Dargis, Manohla. “When the world hangs in the balance, a reliable calendar is needed”. The New York Times. 2009. Web.