2012

John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Amanda Peet,
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oliver Platt, Danny Glover

"We were warned"

This disaster movie with an ensemble cast does well in the special effects department. There are plenty graphic scenes of volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and major earthquakes wreaking havoc all over the world. According to a team of geophysical scientists, the main cause - the sun's radiation is overheating the earth's core/crust. Naturally, the rich countries through their leaders pull their resources together to develop giant 'arks' which surprisingly can survive this impending cataclysm. Of course, the main characters somehow through some miracle make their way to the arks after going through really sticky situations which no one in his right mind would ever survive. But they make it just in time before the whole world tumbles and self destructs.

I don't know what it is about disaster movies but even good actors turn into amateurs as they utter corny and silly dialogue. People pining for each other, saying their farewell amidst such destruction. Throughout the film, I kept trying to figure out who among the cast will survive, who won't make it, how and when they will die. It was suspenseful in the sense that the element of time slowly running out for some of the characters.

Just like any other disaster themed films which don't offer any lessons to the audience, it was entertaining in a mindless form of way. I had set my mood not to expect too much from it anyhow except to be blown away by the well edited computer generated scenes!