Henderson Oracle

Issue date: 11/16/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Columbia Pictures Water, water, everywhere - Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) fights for a place aboard a flooding ark in the newest disaster flick, "2012." In the film, the survivors run for their lives as they try to find a way to survive the Earth's shifting tectonic plates due to the heating of the planet's core. The movie is the latest directorial effort from Roland Emmerich, the man behind 1996's "Independence Day" and 2004's "The Day After Tomorrow."

Director Roland Emmerich returns with yet another disaster film in the form of "2012." This time, it is not an alien threat or another ice age that threatens humanity. This time, it is the Earth itself and no landmark, be it the White House or the Vatican, is safe from Emmerich's grasp.

The film starts off simply enough with a couple of scientists in 2009 discovering that the neutrinos being released by the sun have mutated and now the Earth's core is heating up. It also turns out that the scientists' initial projections are wrong and the Earth's crust displacement is going to happen sooner than expected. Not surprisingly, this will happen in the year 2012.

The movie then moves forward to the summer of 2012 and the audience meets Jackson Curtis (John Cusack). Curtis is a small-time novelist and a divorced father of two and he heads to Yellowstone with his two children in tow. While camping, Curtis meets Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson) who proceeds to inform Curtis that all is not well and the earthquakes that are being experienced across the globe are going to get worse.

With this newfound information, Curtis does everything in his power to get his family to safety. Meanwhile, officials at the White House are trying to follow through with a plan that will hopefully save mankind from the impending doom.

The biggest problem with this film is the special-effects that drove the film's budget up to $200 million. The film hangs on the ability of the effects to capture the audience's imagination. However, the effects make the film come off as a video game without the game play.

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