2012: The Catastrophe Film To Stop All Catastrophe Movies?

In this article I will review the movie "2012," the disaster movie about the much celebrated and predicted end of the world. Whether or not he world will actually end in 2012 is not the point of this article. While I certainly hope it doesn't, if the world does indeed end in 2012, that gives us plenty of time to watch some good movies between now and then.

This movie follows the traditional disaster movie formula, flashing between several different characters, stunning special effects, and serious moral dilemmas that must be answered. We get to experience the lives of characters as they struggle against the impending disaster, and also as they realize there isn't a lot they can do other than accept their fate.

The movie starts out with some scientists discovering some troubling data regarding the core of the Earth. A scientist working for the United States government travels to India, where they observe some troubling indications of the impending end of the world.

Meanwhile, in common disaster movie tradition, the movie jumps between different characters, and how they deal with the slow revelation that something much bigger than they can handle is going on around them. Some of these characters of course come together in the end, and help each other, for the most part, to survive the calamity.

Other characters that are completely likable and free from any traditional flaws discover the impending doom, and don't make it out alive. We need to see that even though some will make it past the impending disaster, many will not. We need to feel their pain.

The overall moral message of this movie is that only by working together can humans survive any cataclysmic earth changing event. One troubling element is that in order to survive, various private investors needed to pay billions of dollars to create the vehicle for survival. This was overcome in the end, when they allowed the blue collar workers to be saved along with wealthy. And as in the story of Noah's Ark, the surviving cast found a place to start human life anew. All in all, this movie comes recommended with four out of five stars.