2012

Director and co-writer Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) uses the so-called end of the Mayan calendar—Dec. 12, 2012—to stir up doomsday frenzy in this over-the-top production, which draws on every disaster movie you've ever seen. The archetypical characters include a reluctant Everyman hero, Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), who is a divorced father of two; his ex-wife, Kate (Amanda Peet), a strong mother; and Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), an alarmist radio host/conspiracy theorist. When Jackson takes his children camping in Yellowstone National Park, he learns that the temperature at the earth's core is rapidly rising and the tectonic plates are moving in an alarming fashion. Meanwhile, a conscientious government scientist (Chiwetel Ejiofor) has alerted the president (Danny Glover), his daughter (Thandie Newton), and chief-of-staff (Oliver Platt), who have plans to head for the Himalayas, where gigantic arks have been constructed for chosen survivors of global cataclysms. If you ignore the gobbledygook of geology and physics, what's remarkable in 2012 is the overabundance of CGI visual effects, repeatedly featuring earthquakes, followed by volcanic eruptions and monstrous tsunamis, which collectively wreak havoc and level landmarks around the world. To achieve close-ups of these catastrophes, Emmerich and his production team built several outdoor pivoting stages that literally shook the actors as they fled down the streets amid the mayhem. A spectacular looking but ultimately silly film, this is a strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by writer-director Roland Emmerich and co-writer Harald Kloser, a “Roland Emmerich: The Master of the Modern Epic” production featurette (10 min.), deleted scenes (5 min.), an alternate ending (4 min.), the music video “Time for Miracles” by Adam Lambert, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is an interactive Mayan calendar, a “Designing the End of the World” featurette (26 min.), a “Countdown to the Future” segment on the year 2012 (22 min.), featurettes on the “Science Behind Destruction” (14 min.), “The End of the World: An Actor's Perspective (8 min.), and the “Mysteries of the Mayan Calendar” (4 min.), a “making-of” on the Lambert music video (3 min.), a bonus digital copy of the film, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an eye-popping but empty film.] (S. Granger)