By Eva Carroll – Staff Reporter

The movie “2012″ is an apocalyptic thriller released in 2009 directed by Ronald Emmerich. “2012″ is about a geological disaster that ultimately brings an end to the world. Dr. Adrian Helmsey and other geological scientists discover that increased radiation from the sun has melted the Earth’s core and caused the crust to destabilize. As a result, the crust will be free to rotate causing devastating earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. To save the human race, the United States government and other nations build storm proof ships which can protect 400,000 civilians. The story follows the journey of Jackson Curtis trying to save himself and his family from the coming disasters by traveling to the ships in hopes for salvation.

“2012” is an adrenaline-inducing film. The film includes multiple scenes where the family teetered on the verge of death. The suspense and fear over what could happen to the family stimulates adrenaline throughout audiences while at the same time keeping them entertained. One scene that was particularly thrilling was when Jackson gets the map to the government ships from an RV at Yellowstone park. During this scene, the Yellowstone Caldera erupts which will kill the family if they do not escape quickly enough. The scene includes multiple frames of the blast using proximity and vantage point to make the explosion seen even more destructive. The scene then alternates between Jackson madly driving away and gigantic chunks of debris crashing into and destroying the area around him. This feature highlights the imminent threat of danger that Jackson is faced with. At first, all other audio is cut besides the sound of the explosion. This technique isolates all other parts of the scene bringing undivided attention towards the devastating blast.

Afterward, intense crescendo music starts to build as Jackson gets closer and closer to the plane which builds up the intensity and urgency of the situation. When Jackson reaches the plane, he stays inside the RV looking for the map. As he does this, the ground underneath the RV collapses and the RV is seconds away from plummeting down to the core of the Earth. At this moment, the music stops and his children start to cry. Viewers are led to believe that Jackson is going to die. This scene has everyone jumping out of their seats pleading for Jackson to get out of the RV before it’s too late. Miraculously, Jackson manages to climb out of the RV and onto the plane runway. Jackson is seen running after the plane with the ash cloud and debris bellowing after him. He manages to make it on the plane with the map safely and escape from his near certain death. The producer could have made Jackson’s quest for the map easy, but he purposely made the task dangerous to make the film more adrenaline inducing. They incorporated multiple film techniques to increase the thrill and intensity of the scene such as manipulation of sound, usage of particular media elements (proximity, vantage point, etc.), and variation and alternation of frame clips. This was just one scene that made the movie all that more thrilling. 

“2012” spreads a positive theme about good vs. evil. In the film, there were multiple conflicts that the characters were faced with, but one in particular demonstrated the good nature of human beings against the evil nature in human beings. Different characters represented different sides to this battle. Characters like Mr. Anheuser, a greedy and selfish government official, and Yuri Karpov, a misogynistic billionaire, represent the evil in people. Characters such as Dr. Adrian Helmsey, a young geologist, represent the good in people. Dr. Helmsey works for Mr. Anheuser. Mr. Anheuser hid the truth from the American people and led the execution of anyone who tried to speak out. Whenever Dr. Helmsey tries to persuade Mr. Anheuser to let the public know, Mr. Anheuser shuts him down. It seems for the majority of the movie, evil is in control. However, at the end of the movie this changes. One of the final scenes takes place right after the boarding gates to the ships close. Hundreds of people who paid for their tickets were not boarded onto the ship. There is only 15 minutes until the tsunami wave hits the ships and the unboarded passengers herd outside the boarding gate. Dr. Adrian Helmsey makes a speech about how it is inhumane and wrong to allow hundreds of others to die. Mr. Anhueser argues that if they open the gates, they may not be able to close them in time and they will all die.

Dr. Helmsey attempts to convince the heads of the mission to open the gates by saying, “The moment we stop fighting for each other, that’s the moment we lose our humanity.” They have to decide if doing the right thing is worth the sacrifice. If the gates stay closed, it shows how evil nature wins because Mr. Anhueser gets what he wants and what is left of humanity is motivated by self interest and greed.

If the gates open, it shows how good nature wins because people are still fighting for each other and doing what is right. After a long silence, they open the gates spreading a message to viewers that the good in people will always trump the evil.

On the other hand, “2012″ is very cliche and repetitive. This movie has all the end of the world cliches out there. First of all, the stereotypical “loony bin” is the first one who tells Jackson about the coming events. Just like every other apocalypse movie, Jackson plays his warnings off  and later realizes that he was right the whole time. Further, it just so happens that Jackson can save his family from any situation even though it would be literally impossible to do so in real life. One example of this in the movie is when Jackson gets his family out of California which was becoming destabilized. Not only does he successfully swerve every falling car and piece of debris, he manages to speed through both a collapsing bridge and collapsing glass building completely unscathed. He also randomly has access to all different types of last minute transportation including two different planes. Throughout the movie there were so many unbelievable crazy coincidences that saved Jackson and his family that the movie became a little too unrealistic. On to my next point, some scenes were way too similar. For example, when Jackson drives out of California, the road behind them starts to crack and break apart as the crust destabilizes. Then, when Jackson and his family try to leave California by plane, the runway behind them starts cracking down and breaking as well. Moreover, when Jackson and his family leave Yellowstone park by plane, the same thing happens where the runway starts to crack and fall apart behind the plane’s path. Finally, when Jackson tries to get on a plane to china where the ships are located, the runway cracks and falls apart directly behind them….again.  

“2012” is successful in creating suspenseful and thrilling scenes that the audience expects in a thriller/action film. The film is also successful in incorporating deeper themes such as good versus evil. However, the film was cliche and repetitive which is why it does not deserve a 5 out of 5 rating.                    

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars