2012***

Starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetal Ejiofor, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton and Thomas McCarthy.

Rated PG-13.

Directed by Roland Emmerich.

Written by Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser

* * *

2012 is a blank canvas which German director Roland Emmerich has splattered with a thick, brilliant assortment of colors, exploding like fireworks in great disarray. He has thrown everything onto the canvas but the kitchen sink. For his viewers, he holds nothing back. Disasters of every kind burst onto the screen, from crushing tidal waves that swallow cities whole, to volcanic eruptions the size of mushroom clouds and earthquakes that split highways in two and bring sky scrapers crashing to the ground. There’s no real order or finesse to the art of the film, but it’s great fun to watch the plot of 2012 unfold.

The lives of a smattering of characters, including author Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), the president of the United States, Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover), top geologist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt), and the president’s daughter, Laura Wilson (Thandie Newton), are irrevocably changed when they learn the end of the world is within arm’s reach. All characters battle the elements, but only a few reach China, where their sole chance for survival exists in the form of massive arks, constructed to sustain the wrath of Mother Nature. But seats on the arks have been pre-sold to the highest bidders, leaving thousands upon thousands of people to perish around the earth.

The characters and acting skills aren’t very intriguing throughout the film, but fantastic special effects and dramatic events pop up around every corner. The actors aren’t the stars of the film; it’s the great tidal waves and earthquakes that bring that brilliant color to the canvas. The power of Mother Nature is terrifying because it can’t be stopped. As far-fetched as the basis of 2012 may seem, the truth of the matter is, the story is not impossible. That’s where Emmerich grabs the audience, taunts their fears and delights their senses with the sounds and images of unstoppable disaster.

The film is rather lengthy, and some of the characters can be a bit grating, but it’s a dazzling escape from reality for 158 minutes. 2012 is a (really long) roller coaster ride that leaves you dizzy, but ultimately riding high on the pulsating thrill of “What if?”