Country: USA | Canada
Language: English
Director: Roland Emmerich
So finally arrives the film that we all have been waiting for.
First of all I would like to point out a few things. It is very difficult to watch this movie just like any other i.e. without any speculation about whether "it" is going to happen or not. Other doomsday films fail to inspire such awe; be it Matrix trilogy or the Terminator series or even the previous films by the same director like The Day After Tomorrow or The Independence Day.
There have been many people whom I have heard asking "Do you think it will happen?" or stating "It is all fiction!" and many other things that reveal in a very subtle way that somewhere inside us we doubt that it is sole fiction.
Now, all the talk of 2012, the year, and naming the film 2012 also inspires the speculation and curiousity even more.
Now the film as a film is a very good work indeed. The special effects are great. The thrill is tremendous and of course the storyline is very tight and nearly keeps everyone off their seats.
Chiwetel Esiofor's performance is very spellbinding. He speaks for every human being as Dr. Helmsley. The other two actors who haunt with their performances are Woody Harrelson and Dr. Helmsley's father.
John Kusack is not very bad either, although he doesn't do anything that only Kusack could do.
I admire the director Roland Emmerich not only because he is a great director -which he surely is- but also because he tries to teach us a few things which we need to learn: 1) The world has to unite as Human Race or we won't survive. 2) Any time the bubble named civilization can burst. 3) Nature doesn't respect anything at all. 4) We are running short of time. 5) A few control lives of many.
The metaphors -intended or unintended- are very good. For example, when Kusack wakes up and says "I am a dead man", he doesn't know that it can be true. He is saying that for some petty cause but time has something else in store for him. That is so true with all of us. We are all worried all the time. But not for the reasons we should actually. We are worried for our daily activities, our "important business" which is nothing more than nonsense to the Universe.
The other thing for which I appreciate this film is that it does not consider the Human to be the center of the Universe which most of us do. We think that we are the best creation of the nature. We compare ourselves to animals or our own kind and take pride in being superior. But compare yourself with the smallest star -which is also something created by nature- and you will see what you are.
Now the film, as any good effort, has its flaws which, in my opinion, are not that important. One thing that film makers need to take into account is something my friend commented "the woman (Amanda Peet) never forgot to wear her lipstick! Not even when the world was ending." Another example is the Hindi spoken by Jimmy Mistry. It gives an air of comedy to the movie when it shouldn't.
Now I would like to point out that it is not a question whether it will happen in 2012 or not. Any person who has studied science even a little bit knows that it can happen anytime. The extinction of human race or the thorough destruction of our planet is not impossible; I would rather say that it seems a miracle to me that it is not happening because the present state of our civilization and our planet are a very delicate thing which needs a lot of factors to maintain it.
We need to wake up. We need to wake up now. We need to take measures while we can. We need to stop raping the planet. Now. This film makes an effort of waking us up. I think it does that successfully.
First of all I would like to point out a few things. It is very difficult to watch this movie just like any other i.e. without any speculation about whether "it" is going to happen or not. Other doomsday films fail to inspire such awe; be it Matrix trilogy or the Terminator series or even the previous films by the same director like The Day After Tomorrow or The Independence Day.
There have been many people whom I have heard asking "Do you think it will happen?" or stating "It is all fiction!" and many other things that reveal in a very subtle way that somewhere inside us we doubt that it is sole fiction.
Now, all the talk of 2012, the year, and naming the film 2012 also inspires the speculation and curiousity even more.
Now the film as a film is a very good work indeed. The special effects are great. The thrill is tremendous and of course the storyline is very tight and nearly keeps everyone off their seats.
Chiwetel Esiofor's performance is very spellbinding. He speaks for every human being as Dr. Helmsley. The other two actors who haunt with their performances are Woody Harrelson and Dr. Helmsley's father.
John Kusack is not very bad either, although he doesn't do anything that only Kusack could do.
I admire the director Roland Emmerich not only because he is a great director -which he surely is- but also because he tries to teach us a few things which we need to learn: 1) The world has to unite as Human Race or we won't survive. 2) Any time the bubble named civilization can burst. 3) Nature doesn't respect anything at all. 4) We are running short of time. 5) A few control lives of many.
The metaphors -intended or unintended- are very good. For example, when Kusack wakes up and says "I am a dead man", he doesn't know that it can be true. He is saying that for some petty cause but time has something else in store for him. That is so true with all of us. We are all worried all the time. But not for the reasons we should actually. We are worried for our daily activities, our "important business" which is nothing more than nonsense to the Universe.
The other thing for which I appreciate this film is that it does not consider the Human to be the center of the Universe which most of us do. We think that we are the best creation of the nature. We compare ourselves to animals or our own kind and take pride in being superior. But compare yourself with the smallest star -which is also something created by nature- and you will see what you are.
Now the film, as any good effort, has its flaws which, in my opinion, are not that important. One thing that film makers need to take into account is something my friend commented "the woman (Amanda Peet) never forgot to wear her lipstick! Not even when the world was ending." Another example is the Hindi spoken by Jimmy Mistry. It gives an air of comedy to the movie when it shouldn't.
Now I would like to point out that it is not a question whether it will happen in 2012 or not. Any person who has studied science even a little bit knows that it can happen anytime. The extinction of human race or the thorough destruction of our planet is not impossible; I would rather say that it seems a miracle to me that it is not happening because the present state of our civilization and our planet are a very delicate thing which needs a lot of factors to maintain it.
We need to wake up. We need to wake up now. We need to take measures while we can. We need to stop raping the planet. Now. This film makes an effort of waking us up. I think it does that successfully.
Good job. I will be waiting for your review on Twilight part one. Especially on Bella.
ReplyDeleteI like your comment on Cusack. It is the most important test to put to a performance, could anyone else have done the same thing, and could anyone else have done it better. Then we see why some performances are great and some are just performances.
ReplyDeleteOh Lord, Madhuvan I apologise, but 2012 is probably the worst movie I have seen in months, or even years !!
ReplyDeleteIt is an awful story, awful performances (I only liked Woody Harrelson) and just complete inanity. Instead of making one think of the future of the planet it exaggerates it so much that one just cannot take it seriously. It is just a disaster. Things that happen are absolutely ridiculous.
Independence Day was a much better, more believable movie.
And I try and maintain a healthy view of stereotypes (often they are true) but the depiction of Indians is absolutely laughable.
No need to apologize. If the film treated a different subject, I wouldn't have praised it either or even commented. But, the the film, in my opinion, is a very good effort to frighten people of the result of their doings. :)The special effects are praiseworthy. And it shows that you survive only if you unite.
ReplyDelete