2012

Roland Emmerich has given us a fair few big budget, special effects heavy blockbusters, often with a heavy ecological bent. This is just one such movie and to be honest I had held off on seeing it as I felt a little bit snowed under by movies like this.

I gave in recently and rented it from the library at the exorbitant price of a £1 for a week. To my surprise I actually enjoyed it. The effects, whilst bombastic, fit in and the acting and writing can be a little wince inducing at times but is perfectly passable.

The plot, whilst implausible, doesn't come across as miles too outlandish. Basically there are massive does of radiation coming from the sun that bake the earths core and cause massive tidal waves and earthquakes. In amidst all this chaos, some scientists and politicians try to find a way to save humanity and a father tries to find a way to save his estranged family.

There are the jaw dropping set pieces you would expect but you don't really get the feeling of being shuttled along between scenes. The plot is set such that the scenes themselves don't seem too extraneous. In another rare move, the kid actors in this film are actually quite likeable and the adults? Well they're quite good too and John Cusack has the tinge of Nicolas Cage is genre hopping mode here.

The ending does come across as a little bit trite and condescending but then again this is Hollywood we are talking about and a patronising pat on the head is to expected at times. That's just a little quibble though as this is a fun movie, with great special effects that for once do not detract from the film itself. If you have 2 and a half hours to spare then there are worse ways to spend them.