It’s no wonder that studios were very interested in the spec script for 2012 given the pedigree of its director/writer Roland Emmerich. With films such as Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow already under his belt, a film based on the Mayan prediction of the world ending in 2012 was guaranteed to be a surefire box office success. Thus, it was foretold; thus, it came to pass. The film was indeed a success and it delivers everything a big box office disaster film should: plenty of disaster, a romance or two, a villain or two, and a hero or two.

It also fails in any real way to try and be more than just a disaster movie, and is entirely predictable.

Prediction number one: lots of sequences depicting massive natural disaster. The film is jam-packed with them, from the eruption of Yellowstone National Park to the massive earthquake along the West coast of the US to Washington DC being destroyed to India being swept away by a tsunami. The visual effects are without question stunning and deserve the major kudos for the movie being entertaining. All the sequences are very well done, although my favorites are probably the plane dodging falling skyscrapers as it flies out of LA and the aforementioned massive eruption of Yellowstone.

Prediction number two: the hero gets the girl, and the girl gets to be the damsel in distress. There are actually two romances threaded throughout the movie: the first with scientist Adrian (Chiwetel Ejiofor) hooking up with the President’s daughter (Thandie Newton), and divorced dad Jackson (John Cusack) reuniting with his estranged ex-wife (Amanda Peet). You notice how I don’t give either woman a name because their names are entirely superfluous to their roles, which are mainly to be there as distraught women, an adjunct of their male heroes. This is not a film promoting strong kick-ass women characters although eye-candy Tamara (Beatrice Rosen) at least gets to flip off her sugar daddy, save the girl and her little dog too, before she dies. Mostly, though, the film is about the two heroes of the piece -- Adrian and Jackson -- saving humanity by Doing The Right Thing.

Admittedly Ejiofor steals the film from an acting point of view. His portrayal of Adrian as a sensitive man, a scientist wanting to save the Earth and save as many people as possible; who holds to the ideal that people will act selflessly to save each other when it comes down to it is great. It’s a real highlight of the film. Cusack, by contrast, is solid but not remarkable; he does best in the scenes where his character is trying to connect with his son. I was mildly surprised that the film opens by not vilifying the step-Dad, Gordon (Thomas McCarthy) and that he turns into something more than a cardboard cut-out character. The running joke of his not being a pilot but continuing to fly increasingly larger planes as they make their escape from the US is very funny. Unfortunately, though, the film cannot resist killing him off so Jackson gets his family back. I can’t help but think that the film would have been improved ten-fold if it had actually gone the unpredictable route and kept Gordon alive.

Prediction number three: the villain-type tries to get in the way. Predictably, the president’s arrogant Chief of Staff (Oliver Platt) fulfills the requirement, from the initial confrontation where Adrian faces off with him to the scene at the end where Adrian usurps the Chief’s authority to save people. Platt does a good job at selling the character’s motivations and beliefs, making him villainous, but still vaguely sympathetic.

Prediction number four: great guest cameos, even if they do die in the end. The best cameo is undoubtedly the irrepressible Morgan Freeman who plays the worn President as a courageous, sage and wise man who goes down with his ship, uh, nation. But Woody Harrelson’s doomsayer radio guy is also very impressive, as are the two old cruise ship cabaret entertainers played by George Segal and Blu Mankuma.

Prediction number five: there’s a moral message buried in among the disasters. Here, the message is that we should try to save as many as possible and that our humanity is based on selflessness rather than selfishness is an interesting one. The contrasting view is taken by the Chief of Staff (which is why he’s the villain). Adrian holds that the goal should be people not things; CoS holds that they should save those best able to restart humanity and save the legacy. It’s an interesting debate which is skimmed over and predictably not really truly addressed, despite being used as a plot device.

Ultimately, the movie is good fun; lots of disasters, lots of action, and a touching human story in Jackson’s fight to save his family. But the story could have been so much more than the predictable disaster movie that it settles for being, and in the end it’s not all that satisfying. It also runs long for a story that isn’t all that captivating. As sit-down-and-switch-off-your-brain entertainment, though, it fits the bill quite nicely. Just don’t expect the unexpected.

   -- Rachel Day