Movie Review : 2012 Exclusive Premiere (No spoilers)

Centuries ago, the Mayans and other ancient civilizations predicts the year 2012 to be the destruction of the world.

Fast forward to current time: We see Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) struggling author, divorcee and part time limo-driver trying to spend time with his kids who mainly live with their mother and her plastic surgeon (focusing on boobs) boyfriend.

We also see a young Scientist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who, with his team has been predicting the destruction and trying to find a solution to work around it while preserving mankind.

That’s a quick summary I can make without giving too much spoilers.

My company had a corporate screening of the movie 2012 on Tuesday (10th Nov) – two days before the official premiere date on 12th November. We had an excess of tickets because some people didn’t turn up so I got to watch this movie in GSC Gold Class, albeit the first row.

Since the movie is coming out today in Malaysia, here’s my review:

I must applaud the awesome effects. In this movie you will see explosions, lava, volcanos forming out of flat land masses, massive clouds of smoke in the air. The earth opened up, splitting in many pieces and buildings collapsing into this gaping hole.

This movie is rated PG13 if I’m not mistaken so there isnt too much gore but you will still feel sad when you see the lives that are lost, falling off buildings, crushed by concrete, etc.

The storyline focuses on what man will do in times of desperation. Would you be selfish and think of yourself? Or would you be compassionate? Clearly it shows that in the face of destruction , prejudices like race, age, rank and finances are secondary.

The movie is a bit long, about two hours or so but in that span of time, i was entertained – laughing at the jokes "Pick up your big butt for me baby" and sad at the touching moments and feeling full of hope in humanity during one of the character’s speech.

The only thing I didnt like about this movie was how the hero , Jackson Curtis, was too good to be true – everything he did turned out exactly like expected. Also, being a doomsday movie, the ending was very predictable.

All in all, I’d give it a 6/7 over 10 Rating.

So what will you do if it was the end of days?