Sony Pictures has recently released extended footage from its widely anticipated apocalypse film, “2012″. The movie explores and exploits prevailing concerns about whether the rumored Mayan prophesy that the world will end in 2012 will actually happen. “2012″ presumes that the world will end, and that it will end in grand fashion, with California sliding into the ocean. Miraculously, one intrepid family man manages to rescue his kin, get to an airstrip, and fly a commuter plane through unbelievably widespread carnage.
From the exclusive clip, which aired tonight on MSNBC during “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” it looks like the creative team went a bit overboard with both the extent of the damage the world undergoes and with our protagonist’s ability to safely navigate out of harm’s way.
Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) exhibits superhuman luck and survival skills, dodging and driving faster than the faultline that forms throughout Los Angeles.
The 2012 Mayan prophecy mystery offers fertile ground for cinematic exploration of a possible apocalyptic future. But what makes good films in the sci-fi action genre work is that the chain of events are at least marginally based in science. From the clip, “2012″ appears too fantastical, too much for an apocalypse film. It will be interesting to see how writer/director Roland Emmerich manages to keep viewers engaged when the action sequences stretch believability beyond what even a rabid sci-fi action fan is willing to entertain.
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