i2 Film

An uncredited updating of Pal's WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, 2012 has the world coming to an end as Earth's core heats up creating floods that will soon kill all life on Earth. We follow a lowly scientist (an interesting Chiwetel Ejiofor), the US President (Danny Glover, who seems to blandly repeat Morgan Freeman's dialogue from the superior DEEP IMPACT), then jump to a down on his luck sci-fi writer/limo driver (a puffy John Cusack), his perky, estranged wife (Amanda Peet--a great actress given nothing to do), two movie-cute kids (One of whom is named 'Noah', for you Obvious Symbolism fans) and about 20 other characters.

Most of those characters are forgettable, except for Oliver Platt, who has fun as the unapologetic bastard who will have to restart the United States post diaster and a gonzo host of a conspiracy radio program. Played by ZOMBIELAND's Woody Harrelson, he seems to be channeling Art Bell by way of Doc Brown in BACK TO THE FUTURE. Harrelson brings the film to life, with his character's excitement at the End. he even goes to where the Earth will explode first so he has a ringside seat.

Emmerich also has a Paris Hilton-type, a Russian boxer turned billionaire (a cool Zlatko Buric), the President's humorless daughter and many others who are less colorful and far less interesting than the President, the stripper and the fighter pilot from ID4.

There's so much CG and Cusack seems so bored looking at it, that none of it matters. He opens his eyes halfway at fireballs, earth ruptures, floods and volcanoes. As a viewer, you think, 'If he's not impressed, why should we be?' Last minute saves of cute kids and dogs leads to butt-numbing indifference. One wishes that Emmerich followed the Harrelson character.

Although 2012 is too long (two hours and 40 minutes), very repetitive and frequently dull, it has one scene any Southern Californian has longed to see--the hellish 405 freeway collapsing during rush hour--something you want to happen, even when trapped on it.