2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discussion

[Aragorn]

Directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Stargate, The Patriot, Universal Soldier, The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla)

An apocalyptic sci-fi thriller following the prophecy stated by the ancient Mayan calendar, which says that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. When a global cataclysm thrusts the world into chaos, divorced writer and father Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) joins the race to ensure that humankind is not completely wiped out.

Believe it or not, Roger Ebert gives this movie ***1/2 out of four.

 

[OmahaStar]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

I thought it was hilarious. I went in expecting a cheesy disaster popcorn flick from Roland Emmerich. I got a cheesy disaster popcorn flick from Roland, so it was exactly what I thought.

But there were a LOT of genre actors in bit parts, including Alex Zahara, Dominic Z from BSG (and OMG, Dom in a uniform like he was wearing ... ... big time hotness), and a host of others. It's kind of fun trying to spot all the people who have been Jaffa on Stargate in this movie.

 

[Procutus]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

I went in expecting a cheesy disaster popcorn flick from Roland Emmerich. I got a cheesy disaster popcorn flick from Roland, so it was exactly what I thought.

Despite the fact this film is getting slammed in a lot of reviews, the Missus and I are looking forward to seeing it, hopefully over the weekend here. I first remember coming across the whole Mayan calendar/December 21 thing back in high school while writing a report on Atlantis. It's the perfect subject for a big-budget film.

Especially from Roland Emmerich.

 

[The Evil Dead]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

Dying to see this movie after work.......

 

[biotech]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

Was going to see this today until I saw it was 2 hours 40 minutes, we wouldn't have had time to see it and pick our kid up from school.

Might just wait for the bluray.

 

[Praxius]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

I'll wait until it comes out on DVD..... I have to have some sort of interest or at least some remote belief in a movie's storyline or some general interest.

Since I believe the whole 2012 thing is a load of crap, I predict it to be very similar to
Independence Day, Armageddon, Deep Impact, Day After Tomorrow, etc. etc.

Entertaining, but not worth my money at a theatre.

I mean seriously, where in the Mayan calander does it state the world ends in 2012? I just heard the calander ended then.... that's it.

 

[bryce]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

Was going to see this today until I saw it was 2 hours 40 minutes, we wouldn't have had time to see it and pick our kid up from school.

Might just wait for the bluray.

Eh, they kid will eventually find it's own way home.


They are like dogs that way...right? Sense of home?


At least, I mean, so far almost all of my kids found their way home...

(And too tell the truth, I wasn't really all that keen on the one that still hasn't turned up anyway...she was kinda stupid...)

 

[Shurik]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

Copy/paste from another thread:

I've seen it yesterday. It's a usual Emerich disaster movie - some implausible pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo happens, everything blows up, billions die, some make a noble sacrifice, people joke amidst the chaos and then there's a happy ending for all the good and moral people. You can guess who will die and who will live after seeing the character for half a minute. You can also exchange the dialog in the entire first half of the movie with the appropriately placed "OH NOES" and "IT'S A CONSPIRACY!".

Change the current mumbo-jumbo with aliens and you will get Independence Day. Change it with a global freeze-up and you will get A Day After Tomorrow. Same characters, same situations.

It will make an excellent Rifftrax. I enjoyed the movie because I knew what I would be seeing and Rifftrax will only enhance the experience.

 

[Dream]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

Great. Another disaster film with bad science.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

Spoilers...

I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. A lot of disaster and a lot of fun. My favorite parts were at the end with all the ark stuff. What I didn't like though was how they had the Earth's surface shift over a thousand kilometers so that the plane would be over China when it ran out of gas. That was dumb. I thought they were going to find a way to use the gas from the cars. Not exactly realisitic either, but more plausible.

By the way, how long were they at sea?

 

[Shurik]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

It was 27 days, IIRC.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

Directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Stargate, The Patriot, Universal Soldier, The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla)

And 10,000 B.C. Don't forget 10,000 B.C.

 

[Daneel]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

And 10,000 B.C. Don't forget 10,000 B.C.

Can't we? Please?

 

[JiNX-01]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

Average. Seriously. And at least 30 minutes TOO LONG.

The only reason they can lay claim to the title "2012" is that they threw in a completely forgettable line about the Mayans.

Spoiler: 2012

It's great if all you're looking for in a plot is a series of catastrophes killing off people whose faces you don't see and whose fates you don't care about. Sadly, that last part applies to the Curtis family who purportedly represent "Everyfamily" here. John Cusack is Jackson Curtis, the divorced dad who has to practically drag his kids on a trip to, brace for it, Yellowstone Park. Why don't they want to go? Because they prefer Gordon, mom's rich cosmetic surgeon boyfriend who drives a Porsche and gives Noah an expensive cellphone (naturally, Dad disapproves). There's lots of narrow escapes (of course) and tragic deaths -- oddly, in some instances, involving bit players.

 

[TGTheodore]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

Another POS courtesy of Roland Emmerich. Not bad enough to be hilarious. It's the 21st Century version of Irwin Allen disaster films, only with a worse script.

If he would have pushed it a little more and taken out the "serious" scenes, it could have been the year's best comedy.

But comedies aren't 160 minutes long.

Best line in the movie: Sasha, a Russian pilot yells in the cockpit, "I HHHHEFFF to put this baby down."

Danny Glover in "ash" makeup should have the NAACP rioting in the streets.

They should change the title to Crack, because that's all you see throughout the first hour, and it's what you have to be on to remotely enjoy this waste of talent and paychecks.

Yet it still wasn't as bad as 10,000 B.C.

--Ted

 

[Brikar99]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

I laughed through the entire thing. By the time it got to the utterly overblown and ludicrous climax (a jammed door? really?) I just couldn't believe my eyes anymore. The action sequences were ridonkulous, and the Russian characters were just... I can't even describe how hilariously awful it was every time these bastards opened their mouths.

But again, I laughed the entire time. Easily worth my matinee dollars.

 

[Jono]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

Fantastic movie. This century's Citizen Kane.

 

[Gojira]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

I love Roland Emmerich's mindless fun disaster movies and this one did not disappoint. For the type of movie it is, it was a blast and I loved the special effects, some of the best I have ever seen. The running time is 2hr & 40min and it never dragged for me.

I go to these types of movies to escape and have fun and be entertained and it was a fun and exciting movie for me.

 

[Samurai8472]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

The moment I heard Woody Harrelson was in this I was wondering

Is Woody going to save the day by flying a shuttle up into the earth's ass while saying a corny one liner?

 

[Gojira]

Re: 2012 (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson) Grading & Discuss

The moment I heard Woody Harrelson was in this I was wondering

Is Woody going to save the day by flying a shuttle up into the earth's ass while saying a corny one liner?

Woody was great in this. He played your typical crazy, wing-nut conspiracy theorist.