(3 out of 5 stars)

Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) returns with another disaster movie as is his specialty. This time he sinks LA into the Pacific, crushes Rio and Rome, and sends tidal waves over the capital and even the Himalayas. John Cusack and Amanda Peet get stuck in the middle trying to stay alive.

The special effects are quite amazing, seeing well known landmarks bite the dust, but in a disaster movie, you need more than effects. The story shows how one family tries to stay alive in the midst of a cataclysmic end to the earth, but oddly, never makes the audience care whether the family makes it or not. You sort of want the Chief of Staff to die, and you could care less about the Russians, but even more, it does not matter at all whether Cusack’s lead character dies for the good of humanity or whether he makes it back to his family with his last breath intact.

Disaster movies can be great, even when the premise and action sequences are preposterous; however, they are only good when there is an emotional element…something that does more than entertain, and really invests the viewer into the characters lives. 2012 is good, but not great. It entertains, and if that is the goal, well, I guess it succeeded.

Suggested similar recommendations: Armageddon and The Day After Tomorrow