The world will come to an end in 2012. That's what the Mayans predicted centuries ago. With the earth, sun and other planets making a freak once-in-a-million-years alignment, there will be death and destruction on Earth.
2012
u/a; thriller
Dir: Roland Emmerich
Cast: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson, Chjwetel Ejiofor
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What's it about: The world will come to an end in 2012. That's what the Mayans predicted centuries ago. With the earth, sun and other planets making a freak once-in-a-million-years alignment, there will be death and destruction on Earth.
A US scientist Adrian Helmsley (Ejiofor) discovers that our planet's crust will super heat in 2012 leading to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and increasing water levels that will flood continents.
Only a select few (those who have bribed the US government with a billion euros) will be allowed to board special shuttles that will protect them on D-Day. 
Jackson Curtis (Cusack) author of a no-seller book and a limo driver, divorced from his wife (Peet)u00a0 spends the day taking his kids for an outing. However, his ordinary day turns into a save-the-world mission when he's thrown right in to the vortex of impending doom.
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What's hot: Emmerich has done this before and he truly is a master of his game. He choreographs his disasters so beautifully that they mesmerise you with their havoc. In 2012, he goes for the kill and creates some stunning SFX scenes that are the best in recent times.
Be it the washing out of the White House or the battleship climax scene, he succeeds in putting up a grand show. Woody Harrelson impresses as the crazy radio guy who knows it all. Watching the Queen of England scurry along with her dogs into the shuttle is a priceless moment.
What's not: If 2012 is when the world's on the brink of an apocalyptic cataclysm, then where are the prophecies leading to the event? Apart from a two-second mention of the Mayans committing suicide, nowhere does the film find it necessary to explain the 2012 phenomenon. Focusing too much on how the world ends, it forgets to explain why it's happening.
Disaster movies have become a one-trick pony for filmmakers in the West, relying heavily on special effects. It's not that the genre is outdated, but the ingredients for dishing up an end of the world movie have become pretty much predictable.
There's always a broken up family, an American President giving a rousing speech,u00a0 and of course, American property, pride and glory being destroyed either by aliens or a freak asteroid. 2012 stays on the much treaded path of its predecessors (The Day After Tomorrow, War of the Worlds, Deep Impact, Armageddon, and Independence Day) without taking the risk of telling a story.
And just because it's a world phenomenon, Emmerich has thrown inu00a0 an annoying Russian guy and an Indian scientist (Jimi Mistry) whose Hindi will have you in splits!
What to do: You've seen this multiple times before and you even know how it ends, still 2012 will bring in the crowds. Junkies of special effects will lap this up, but those seeking to delve inside the history of the phenomenon will be sorely disappointed.
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