2012

Release Date: Nov 13, 2009 

Runtime: 2 hr. 38 min. 

Director: Roland Emmerich 

Cast: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt.

Seems like Emmerich was saving all the best, and worst, for last when he decided to end the world. According to the Mayan calendar, the world as we know it ceases to exist in 2012 and that may be for the best if movies become this formulaic. Despite impending doom, the people were backdrops rather than the focus of the storyline. The main characters somehow inexplicably avoided attacks thrown by mother nature, always escaping in the most impossible manner. At one point, I literally cried out, "seriously?," before remembering that this is, in fact, a movie. The special effects, however, were pretty mind-blowing. They were like all of Emmerich's movies combined and then packed with steroids. If it weren't for the amazing catastrophes, it would have just been a bunch of people running around with bad dialogue. But don't worry, he plans on spinning a tv series off of this so you can relive the adventure every week. Who said the end of the world had to be dreary. 

Rating: 2 stars