12th December 2012:
“Water came rushing in from all sides of the island and submerged the complete city in one sweep. Huge rocks were falling from the skies and blasting like Atom bombs all over the mountains. Rocks started to melt like wax does in the coal and houses began to vaporize in seconds.
The minute longs earthquakes were shattering the landscapes, and buildings were collapsing like when a tower of cards crash when even one card is pushed from its base. Bridges were collapsing, trucks blasting and there was havoc everywhere!”
Just the words above can generate chills in the spine. Now imagine watching the destruction on 30 by 70 feet screen size and dolby digital surround sound. Oh, it has GOT TO BE one of the most Amazing Experience ever. And it was. So much so, that I had to watch it two times to get it through.
The apocalypse of 2012 is based on the myth (or perhaps the truth) of Mayan calender’s predicting the end of human civilization to be on the 12th day of 12th Month of the year 2012. Nobody can prove the authenticity of the prediction (unless and otherwise they use a Time machine, of course!), but they can at least create a thrill ride of the events, in a circumstance that it might go true.
Story is the (now) stereotypical, “peoples trying to save themselves from destruction of the earth”, type of movies, but its hell of a thrill ride. It was the most anticipated movie for me, when I had watched its trailer, months ago. Many people have criticized 2012 for the lack of its imaginative plot, but I dont think you need more! With the Earth coming to an end, who cares about the story; the people would wonder more, if anybody could survive the apocalyptic date.
Plane escaping the falling building is one of the shots you may forget to breath |
Never before I have witnessed the CGI so spectacular in the destruction, that I was having a guilty conscious of actually ‘Liking’ the Earth getting destroyed. But it was Spectacular, Beautiful, Splendid and Magnificent. The way the world was being furious on mankind, was like the Nature’s way of taking revenge, for treating her so badly. Lets face the fact – Yes, we do.
After “The Independence Day” and “The Day After Tomorrow“, Roland Emmerich has done it again, with might be the shortest title ever (just 4 numerals), but with more impact this time. As I said, visually the film is a treat and which is why I had to experience it again.
There is no science in the movie, except probably the fact, that it follows gravity! With every escape of the protagonists at just the precise moments, 2012 did felt over dramatic. But thats why I loved it. Many times did I anticipated whats coming, but that didn’t stopped the excitement from reaching the spine, and it did created chills many times.
Morgan Lily’s innocence takes my breath away in this still shot of 2012 |
2012 was my first movie to watch John Cusack on screen, and I have got to tell, he looked charming. (The next would be Hot Tub Time Machine, for which I am pretty excited.) Morgan Lily is amazingly cute girl and it was good to have her in 2012, as it just made the shots more beautiful. I cannot say much for a large number of other characters, but I don’t think, 2012 wasn’t even relying on casts to work, so cast doesn’t matter. The selling point of 2012 was CGI, and there’s no shortage of it. Without spoiling, I would just want to say that the visual effects were mind-numbing awesome. The crash and blasts and disasters makes full use of every inch of the screen, and which makes it perfect to be watched in hall, in front of largest screen possible.
2012 is a thrill ride, but is best to watch it with your brains on a shutdown mode. Don’t expect 2012 to give you any information about what’s the real prophesy about Mayan’s, which led to the creation of 2012, in the first place. Nor expect 2012 to have a story. If you want a good story, its time you look for something else. 2012 is a movie, which truly shows what can be achieved with today’s CGI, and to what extent of realism could be expect in future. And with 2012 I can be sure that its going in a right direction.