John Cusack may have sabotaged the rest of his flailing career by appearing in "2012" this dog from director Roland Emmerich.
Whatever the box office says the Irish American actor has descended to the lowest plane of his career in the type of movie that makes the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes," an Oscar-winning proposition.
Instead of tomatoes we have sun demons, huge fireballs that catapult to earth and destroy all the living and the undead (which is pretty much everyone) in a movie which has as much suspense as "Daddy Day Care."
John Cusack is the "Daddy Day Care" figure at the beginning of this movie, driving his daughter to his ex-wife's when the world suddenly starts to end.
It turns out that the plot is based on an entire fiction -- an alleged Mayan prediction that the end of days will be December 21 2012.
There is no such prediction but facts aren't stubborn things in this movie, directed by Emmerich who has made a substantial living trying to scare the daylights out of everyone. It is "Godzilla," meets "Independence Day" meets "Day after Tomorrow," which not coincidentally, are three other movies Emmerich has directed.
All feature massive special effects, minimal acting and paper-thin characters who basically run screaming and hollering as disasters happen all around them. Most prominent of course is the destruction of American and Catholic icons, you don't need to be a genius to figure out where this German director is coming from.
Just as the world is about to end Cusack discovers that the Chinese government have known this all along and have built a Noah's ark somewhere in the Himalayas to bring everyone to safety.
No problem. Emmerich is a huge devotee of Marx, according to the Guardian newspaper so the fact that the red Chinese are our saviors should be no surprise. The bad American government of course, at the beginning of the movie, lie and distort the fact that the world is about to end.
As he makes his way across the world and eventually the Himalayas, Cusack and ex-wife and family in tow meets all the predictable adventures. . stealing planes here, meeting Russian oligarchs there, Chinese helicopter pilots over there.
Emmerich can certainly direct special effects but not actors. That much is clear from this movie which is so formulaic that it is as predictable as a tuna sandwich and just about as exciting.
John Cusack is a fine actor who has plumbed the depths here. Tom McCarthy as his ex-wife's new love interest conveniently gets bumped off which is good news for him and his career.
Roland Emmerich has made the same movie over and over again. The definition of madness is said to be doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
In this case that doesn't happen. An F minus all around.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Wingeire1 | Nov 17, 2009, 07:13 AM EST
ColemanKapp on November 13,2009 | 07:01AM Why is this Irish news? Coleman, its not Irish news. Apparently it is Anti Catholic news...according to the "critic".
Wingeire1 | Nov 17, 2009, 07:09 AM EST
Well, let me tell you what I think. I saw the movie yesterday, and found it a great deal of fun. What do you expect from a disaster movie?? Obviously the script is going to be hokey...this movie was totally about the special effects. No one could have gone in to see it and expect it to be based on the truth. It's ridiculous for you to think so and bash it from that standpoint. As I read your article before I went to see the movie, I looked specifically for the "anti-Catholic" theme. I didn't find it. The whole world was falling down, so of course that would include St Peters. And places in Japan. And the US. I think your anti Catholic rant is way overboard.
HorsesInMidstream | Nov 13, 2009, 04:37 PM EST
This isn't the kind of movie I'm likely to be interested in, but Metacritic gives it a 51 rating based on what 30 critics say. These are 30 critics that we might have actually heard of, and two of them give it a perfect score. I don't know what group Mr. Buzz works for, but he seems to come with an antipathy for anything that Mr. Emmerich cares to produce. I searched for these reviews for the name Brady without success, so why do you think anyone would pay attention to your movie reviews?
Maireadsully | Nov 13, 2009, 03:02 PM EST
Are you joking with the article??? Can we not just look at 2012 as a scfi movie and enjoy it for what it is? The last two articles on this movie remind me of how right wingers search the bible to find proof that God hates gays. Basically, you can always find what you're looking for (if you twist it's meaning)...and it seems that Irish Central is searching for evidence that the movie is anti Catholic. I doubt that the director or John Cusack ever gave it a thought, so lets move on to more important news...and not made up sensationalism!
sanantoniobrendan | Nov 13, 2009, 11:31 AM EST
I posted a good comment on this film and it got censored, so no more!
EMCCLARY | Nov 13, 2009, 11:23 AM EST
Buzz Brady was not breast fed by his mother, some other bitch, a wolf perhaps. Oh and his father must have been distant, to say the least. He criticizes Emmerich for things he sees lacking in 2012, that would have no place in a mindless fantasy flight such as this anyway! Then he berates Mr. Cusack for being in the movie as if trying to make a little money for that kind crap is somehow evil today! My God man it's nice to strut and sway across the stage and spout Hamlet and Enemy of the People, if you can bloody well get paid for it! Let Mr. Cusack laugh on the way to bank sometime OK? Oh and by the way Mr. Buzz light head, boy Anthropologist, the Catholic Church made sure that as many Mayan books as they could find were destroyed, most of the the real experts admit they don't know if this Baktou is the end of one age and beginning of the next, or the "End of Days" as so many other prophets, along with many the Mayans believe it is! "No man may know the day or hour" says nothing about the month or year. It's out of our hands anyway, so laugh Buzzy, laugh!
Siobhan39 | Nov 13, 2009, 10:01 AM EST
Why is this Irish news?