The topic of how and when humanity will meet its demise has always been a topic for heated debate among cults for centuries. Many men have tried to guess the date of our impending doom, also known as the apocalypse. While numerous attempts were made, none have succeeded, as proven by the fact that you are still reading this article. The movie, 2012 is another portrayal of the destruction that will be brought upon the Earth. It is another attempt to guess the date of the apocalypse, and what will happen during that period. However, what sets the director, Roland Emmerich’s style apart from the others is the fact that he makes his attempts with plenty of style. Seriously, he does.

The premise of 2012 is simple, it is another Noah’s Deluge, where the world is destroyed and only a few hand-picked individuals are spared to repopulate the world. However, the difference is the method through which the world is destroyed. In 2009, an Indian scientist discovers that the Earth is heading for disaster as its core’s temperature was rising rapidly and notifies the American government. Although the government of America is made aware of this, the information is kept confidential and only hand-picked individuals and wealthy people are chosen to be rescued. This brings us to ask the question, are all humans not equal? Why should a government select certain people above all others?

During an interview, reporters had trouble getting relevant information out of John Cusack as he was exhausted. Perhaps due to the constant running from danger in the movie, but one important question was answered. When asked about whether or not he believes that the events in the movie will happen, the star of the show, John Cusack replied saying that he believes that instead of such carnage happening, he believes that a more likely “ending” would be the unification of human consciousness. In other words, humans will cease to be individuals and instead form one collective consciousness, becoming one being. Other from having a deeper understanding of doom and all, Cusack had to admit that he liked the fact that he was in an action movie, finally! He also stated that he had been interested in getting involved in movies like 2012 because he had claimed to have an inclination since childhood about doomsday as he was interested in the Revelation and imagery aspects of doomsday. Whatever it was he liked, he sure played the part relatively well.

In essence, the strength of this movie lies in its graphics, which show ‘gorgeous’ portrayals of destruction in almost every scene. The irony that it is ironic that such beauty should be used to describe the end of the world, but then it is a movie. Its other less impressive strength is the use of a bit of philosophy, such as mentioned earlier, why did the government not decide to save the rest of humanity, and instead sell tickets worth a billion dollars to the elite rich who paid to be saved, does everyone not have a right to be saved, instead of a need to earn the right? Well, only you can answer these questions after you watch it.

Sadly, that is where the strengths end; the special effects seem to provide a distraction to hide its greatest flaw, character development. All we can understand about the film is Jackson Curtis is trying to survive the apocalypse with his family. Besides that, we see the characters finding ways to say goodbye to their loved ones, which actually proved more of an annoyance because it was intermittent and interrupted the flow of disasters.

All in all, the film would be good for casual viewing, but if you were to analyze the movie too deeply, you would find many plot holes. As usual, there are contrasting opinions on the film, but they can be separated into two simple categories, one feels the character development is too little, the other feels the graphics more than makes up for it. One thing is certain though, John Cusack has proven to be the unconventional hero yet again and director, Roland Emmerich, has succeeded in creating the mother of all disaster films, at least for the time being.