Ephemeris of the Mind (Film Review) 2012
Time to read: 2 min read
Movie Poster
When they tell you not to panic... that's when you run!
Previous Roland Emmerich review:
Review
Taking advantage of the 2012 phenomenon, this film aimed to capitalize on the sensationalist fear that the world was coming to an end in 2012 based on the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which terminates in 2012. Obviously the world hasn’t been destroyed in the predicted cataclysm (at least not more than what humans have already done to it), but I do vividly remember this film capturing the zeitgeist when it was released. Recently this film came up on the recommended films list of a streaming service so I thought I’d give it another watch.
John Cusack plays Jackson Curtis, not 50 Cent, but a struggling author living in LA. When the end of the world arrives, Jackson tries to save his divorced wife (Amanda Preet) and their children (Liam James and Morgan Lily) by getting to arks constructed by a coalition of national governments to preserve humanity.
The script and plot are as boilerplate disaster movies as they come. The script is very explicit and lacks any nuance while the plot is written around the special effects. To be fair, the special effects are pretty cool, but they do look slightly aged and the lighting, especially in the latter half of the film, is very dark. My favourite part of disaster movies (other than the special effects), is probably seeing how humans interact in the face of adversity, and this film does deliver snippets of that.
The acting is mediocre all around the board, everyone does their job and no one really stands out. I did like Donald Glover’s President of the United States, Woody Harrelson’s conspiracy theorist, and Zlatko Burić’s Russian billionaire (much like his role in Triangle of Sadness).
Conclusion
The film delivers what it promises.