Doomsday, ‘2012’

Roland Emmerich’s latest disaster flick “2012” is your typical summer/holiday blockbuster, where the geek gets the girl, divorced parents fall in love again, and you keep getting reminded that family is important in the midst of the ultimate life-changing catastrophe. Be that as it may, it’s not as bad or dumb as you might expect; if anything, it’s pretty bearable and sometimes, pleasantly distracting. The horrific, human-level consequences aren’t always shown, so it’s not exactly burdensome. The spectacular effects illustrate the apocalypse-scale destruction of the Earth, the digitally enhanced visuals imbued with power and, strangely, an unusual beauty. You can’t help but look at every massive scene of doom, and go, “THAT’s how the end times would look like.”