Hey everyone,

Being a while, hasn't it? I've being kept busy by college and other things, not much time to submit stuff to DA, to be quite honest. But I'm still alive and no, I don't plan on doing anymore Michael Jackson pieces for now, in case some of you are thinking he is taking over my page!

But anyways, onto the point of my post, I wish to post a review of a film I saw at the weekend, that film being 2012, a film that has divided a lot of people. A lot of people don't like, others loved it. I'm one of the latter and I'm going to explain why. ( Be warned this will contain spoilers )

Unless you being living under a VERY big rock, you will have at least heard of all the nonsense about December 21st, 2012 being the end of the world because the Mayan's predicted it. ( Before you ask, I think its all bull, another fear mongering money making racket just like the Y2K bug. ) Apparently, a lot of nasty things will happen in 2012 to bring the end of the world.

I guess I really shouldn't have being surprised when I first found out that they were making a film based on these doomsday predictions. Being directed by none other than Roland Emmerich, the same guy who gave us Independence Day and the Day After Tomorrow. Both were pretty damn awesome films, though no Citizen Kane's, and they really shouldn't be expecting that in the first place. They were both fun flicks to watch with a group of friends and pushed CGI effects to their limit.

What I found particularly interesting was the viral campaign for this film. While no marketing expect, the idea of using a very convincing looking series of conspiracy theory videos hosted by a Charlie Frost ( Woody Harrelson ) was a pretty damn good one, if going a bit overboard and some people actually believed what he was saying!

But I'm getting away from the point, onto the movie itself. It actually opens pretty well, we're introduced to Adrian Helmsley ( Chiwetel Ejiofor ) who is one of the first to discover in 2009 that the shit is going to hit the fan in 2012 and that something needs to be done, cue this bring brought to the president of the US ( Danny Glover ) and then we're quickly brought to 2012, where the film begins in earnest and the CGI soon starts happening.

God, I will be honest, I have nothing but praise for the special effects here. They look amazing and very believable. A real feast for the eyes and the senses. The destruction of LA is shown very well, amongst the other CGI scenes ( of which there is an awful lot ) Great work done by everyone involved here, a real contender for the special effects Oscar.

As for the script, er.... to put it bluntly, it SUCKS. Its got to be the worst script I've ever seen in a film. Its BAD, so BAD that its good! As a result, 2012 has got to be one of the funniest films I have seen this year. I can't recall laughing that much at a film in the cinema, I honestly can't! ( Then again, I don't go to see films that often to begin with ) To give you an example, towards the end of the movie, the death of Yuri, a Russian character, is done is such a downright cliche and corny way, that everyone is the cinema just started laughing.

They should marketed this as an Sci-Fi Action Disaster Comedy Film because that it what it is, a comedy thanks to the terribly cliche script and corny dialouges. The performances were OK, the actors did their best with such a terrible script, particularly Woody Harrelson's Charlie Frost character, most memorable character in the film in my opinion. John Cusack as the lead was an awkward choice, feels like a fish out of water to me but still decent, at least he open to taking such a risk or perhaps he did this for shits and giggles.

So overall, this is the type of film you go see with a group of buddies and watch with same group at home, cracking open a few beers before during the course of this CGI corn fest. At 2 and a half hours, its a little long but the CGI and the corny script somehow keep it afloat for that time, a worthwhile film, though not essential to see in the cinema.

Rating: 6 / 10