2012
The thought of yet another apocalyptic Hollywood movie gives rise to mixed reactions.
What if it is as unlikely as landing a drilling crew on a fast-approaching asteroid, with the thought of blowing it to smithereens with a nuclear device a la Armageddon. What if it is another variation of the asteroid getting through and actually hitting the Earth as seen in Deep Impact. Suppose it is as preposterous as The Day After Tomorrow, when the weather changes so suddenly and has such a dramatic effect on the special effects that the tidal waves come in mistakenly from behind the Statue of Liberty.
But then again, what if the screenplay is intelligent, what if the acting is plausible . . . and what if the special effects are far beyond anything we have seen thus far. That possibility is very much with us in 2012, a motion picture on a scale unlike what we might've imagined previously.
This is why we go to such movies . . . to be entertained and moved and thrilled to see things that we've never seen before . . . the upending of Los Angeles and its slow slide into the sea . . . a tsunami that washes over the Himalayas . . . and improbable although fabulous thrilling escapes in cars and airplanes as the crust of the Earth crumbles behind them, and the great skyscrapers and roadways of our culture fall in upon each other and vanish in enormous chasms . . . and largest volcanic eruptions ever seen on film . . . all of this a result of furious solar flare activity which is sending out intense neutrino storms that are heating the mantle of the Earth and causing continental displacement and polar shifting.
I won't tell you anymore about the plot or the scenes. That you need to see unfold before your eyes. Suffice to say this is an exciting, intense and carefully written screenplay, with very few of the flaws and missteps that many movies of this type trip up on.
And I would have to say that Woody Harrelson should definitely be considered for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the lunatic hippie who foresees it all.
This really is a thrilling and fun movie.
-- Thomas Ormsby
