After a day of working and groaning while the Fighting Irish lost yet another game, Jack and I went to see "2012" last night. Admittedly, I like those disaster movies that, at the end of the ravaging action sequences, humanity bands together and fights for survival. Movies such as "Twister," "Armageddon," "Deep Impact," and "Day After Tomorrow" do just this. Sure, the special effects are great, you have a few white-knuckled moments as you internally will the characters to survive, and they usually emerge from the challenges with little more than dirt on their faces and torn shirts. I walk out of the movies feeling pretty uplifted.Now, about "2012."
As usual, I have an opinion! It was a good movie. It was even a great movie. The special effects were truly amazing and I cannot believe how far computer generation has come in the last ten years. The scenes, commonly of earth's crust shifting via crevasses extending to the earth's core, depicted humans hanging onto crumbling buildings...humans in cars plunging down the gorges...millions of people running in droves from St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. The level of detail this movie attained was really neat.
As usual, I have an opinion! It was a good movie. It was even a great movie. The special effects were truly amazing and I cannot believe how far computer generation has come in the last ten years. The scenes, commonly of earth's crust shifting via crevasses extending to the earth's core, depicted humans hanging onto crumbling buildings...humans in cars plunging down the gorges...millions of people running in droves from St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. The level of detail this movie attained was really neat.
But almost everyone died. I'm not spoiling the movie for you...with a movie of this caliber, you assume that almost everyone dies. I'll leave it at that!
While the special effects were great, every single moment that could have been a close call WAS a white-knuckled moment. Every single action sequence became the absolute worst scenario and the key characters survived by insane luck and cleaver timing. In one scene, there's a little dog that's trying to get on the ark and I found myself white-knuckled as I grabbed the theatre seat, hoping the little doggie survives. By that point, I was getting a little tired of every single moment being so intense. Again, I won't ruin the ending for you, but it does reaffirm humanity acting as one body to survive.
But I didn't feel the warm and fuzzy feeling as I left the theatre. I thought it was going to be one of those "wow, I should really live a good life in case the world does end unexpectedly" wake-up calls. Instead, I was stressed out, tired, and decided I really don't feel like ever visiting Yellowstone Park! So if you like disaster movies that are based on sheer fantasy and Mayan public policy, give it a try. But take an anti-anxiety drug before you go!
I agree totally with your opinion of the movie! I guess I struggle with God being taken out of movies especially with an end of the world theme to it. The loss of life was disturbing and, I'm proud to say, I wasn't desensitized to it even though every 20 seconds you saw a mass amount of people dying. I'm getting too "old" to watch these movies but it was a nice escape and great special effects!
ReplyDeleteThe computer graphics were AMAZING. But I agree, the plot was a little thin and predictable. At least the richest, most affluent citizens survived to repopulate the planet. That reminds me...why didn't they pick more young, attractive people on the arks...oh yea, because it wasn't "2012, the year of Hitler!"
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