Emmerich Stomps On St Peter's

[cappie]

The German director Roland Emmerich shows a special enthusiasm for imaginative destruction of Christian monuments in his new film, 2012. He avoided demolishing Islamic landmarks such as Mecca for fear of a fatwa, so he says. Instead he shows the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio toppling pathetically off its pedestal on the Corcovado mountain, and St Peter's spectacularly obliterated in an earthquake, crushing a crowd of helpless pilgrims. We see cardinals kneeling in the Sistine Chapel as above them a fissure splits the finger of God in Michelangelo's ceiling before the whole building collapses into dust and rubble.

He doesn't only smash Christian monuments, of course. He annihilates the White House a second time (after his earlier Independence Day) by crushing it under an aircraft carrier propelled by a giant wave.

2012 mostly resembles this director's other films, such as Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow, except Emmerich has thought up a new pretext for the world to end. This is to be found in the ancient Mayan calendar which appears to predict the exact date when doomsday will arrive - December 21 2012.

The experts - led by Chiwetel Ejiofor as ethical and heroic Dr Adrian Hemsley, assisted by Jimi Mistry as Dr Tsurutani (with Goodness Gracious Me accent) and speccy scientist Professor West (John Billingsley) - have discovered that "the earth's crust is destabilising". This will cause shifting tectonic plates, tidal waves and terrible flooding. It's the myth of a regenerative flood come to cleanse a jaded planet.

As a result, President Wilson (Danny Glover) and the leaders of 40 nations plan to secretly evacuate a group of worthies in reinforced steel arks buried deep in the Himalayas. Glover is ideal for this role. He lends moral solidity to announcements such as: "The world as we know it will soon come to an end." He has an attractive daughter, Laura (Thandie Newton), who's a PhD and an idealist, providing love interest for dashing Dr Hemsley. The President's chief of staff, on the other hand, Carl Anheuser (brilliant Oliver Platt), is pragmatic and calculating. He cynically sells places on the getaway ship to Russian billionaires and Arab princes rather than selecting the most meritorious to continue the species.

John Cusack is the film's slacker hero. He is Jackson Curtis, author of one unsuccessful novel, separated from his wife Kate (Amanda Peet) and two children. Kate has taken up with Gordon (Thomas McCarthy), a plastic surgeon and a frightful twit. Naturally, Jackson finds that adversity teaches him what really matters and brings his family closer together. 2012 is nothing if not sentimental and abounds with heart-rending separations and cloying reconciliations.

The disaster movies of the 1970s, the ones Irwin Allen produced, teemed with cameos by Hollywood stars. Here, we find fewer stars, and the ones present do not stretch themselves. Woody Harrelson rolls his eyes as eccentric Charlie Frost, a mountain man camped in Yellowstone National Park waiting for a volcano to erupt, and George Segal is well cast as a sad cruise-ship crooner estranged from his son and granddaughter.

2012 is a popcorn romp that runs to a bloated two hours and 40 minutes but passes surprisingly briskly, urged on by Thomas Wander's crashing, surging score. The humour is mostly unintentional and derives from po-faced rendering of ridiculous solemn dialogue. The film is one long special effect, including gasp-inducing earthquakes and tsunamis, the west coast of America sliding into the sea, and tense scenes where planes and cars outpace by centimetres the earth's crust fragmenting behind them.

[url="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/reviews/r0000540.shtml"]http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/reviews/r0000540.shtml[/url]

[Apotheoun]

[jonyelmony]

I don't know whther her is trying to say anything, but I did find the Vatican clips in the trailer sorta distrubing.

[CatherineM]

As someone who loves disaster movies for some strange reason, I am waiting to stand in line to buy the DVD. The only question will be do I file it with the ice movies such as Post Impact and The Day After Tomorrow, or with the fire movies such as Volcano and The Sky is On Fire. I'll probably put it in the middle with my Category 6 & 7 movies.

[JimR-OCDS]

I thought maybe going to see the movie, because of the graphics, it'd be more enjoyable
on the big screen than on teevee.


Jim

[CatherineM]

I have a big screen and surround sound, and can't go to movie theaters, so I make do.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I intend to see it because I enjoy the genre, even if most of the movies do generally have bad politics or theology.

[ardillacid]

And he didn't show Muslim sites being destroyed out of fear of backlash. Definitely skipping this one.

[Gregorius]

[quote name='jonyelmony' date='13 November 2009 - 08:55 AM' timestamp='1258120556' post='2002080']
I don't know whther her is trying to say anything, but I did find the Vatican clips in the trailer sorta distrubing.
[/quote]
Same here, though I'm still perplexed why he chose not to show Islamic monuments being destroyed.

[CatherineM]

[quote name='Raphael' date='13 November 2009 - 12:24 PM' timestamp='1258136656' post='2002208']
I intend to see it because I enjoy the genre, even if most of the movies do generally have bad politics or theology.
[/quote]
Don't forget bad science.

[Gregorius]

Science? There's supposed to be science in this movie?!

[Vincent Vega]

If it makes one sleep better at night to pretend to smash important Christian monuments, landmarks, and the like, go for it. No skin off my teeth. I didn't intend to see the movie before, and this article didn't vary my viewpoint either way.

[Fidei Defensor]

So?

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='CatherineM' date='13 November 2009 - 08:46 PM' timestamp='1258163209' post='2002422']
Don't forget bad science.
[/quote]
True. Go watch "The Core." Abysmally horrible science.

[Lounge Daddy]

I always enjoy watching Oliver Platt. He always does a great performance.