those signposty speeches allow for a kind of logic amidst all the mayhem. And such mayhem!
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11/12/09
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2012 (2009)
37
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Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:203
Fresh:76
Rotten:127
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: Roland Emmerich's 2012 provides plenty of visual thrills, but lacks a strong enough script to support its massive scope and inflated length.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating]
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:13-11-2009
Synopsis: Roland Emmerich has given movie watchers several apocalyptic films in the past in INDEPENDENCE DAY and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, and he offers another look at the end of the world in 2012. This... [More]
Starring: John Cusack, Chjwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt
Director: Roland Emmerich
Reviews for 2012
121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
At worst, it's a gruesome, depressing subject as viewed from the seat of a passing roller coaster.
11/12/09
There's so much ambitious spectacle, but it's surrounded by so many lazy contrivances that one would want to gasp in astonishment if one weren't chuckling and groaning in aggravation so often.
11/12/09
2012 Offers Hope in the Face Of Spectacular Disaster.
11/12/09
2012 is a sideshow ride, a rollickingly good thrill until it loses momentum in the last act, but even so, at 158 minutes, there's plenty of bang for your buck.
11/12/09
I can't believe I'm saying this, but 2012 filmmakers should have hired Michael Bay as an artistic consultant. Yes, the same Michael Bay who made Transformers and Pearl Harbor.
11/12/09
It's easy to mock throwaway blockbusters like 2012, but as enthralling, mindless entertainment, the film is difficult to fault.
11/12/09
It depicts a world where no one, man or God, has much say in what happens to the planet, and where the survival of one family outweighs the deaths of billions. What does that say about us?
11/12/09
If you feel like you've seen all this genre has to offer, save your ten dollars and take comfort that you're probably right.
11/12/09
Beware 2012, which works the dubious miracle of almost matching Transformers 2 for sheer, cynical, mind-numbing, time-wasting, money-draining, soul-sucking stupidity.
11/12/09
The effects are expensive-looking and impressive enough while you're watching them, although whatever awe they inspire doesn't last long: When you've seen one Washington Monument fall to bits, you've seen them all.
11/12/09
People talk about "formula" almost always as a pejorative, but formulas get to be formulas because they work, and there's something to be said for a formula picture done almost to perfection.
11/12/09
Cliched, bombastic, coincidental, corny and technologically implausible, "2012" is so silly it might be entertaining if it didn't go on so long.
11/12/09
Films of this sort are plotted shish kebab style: disaster, change of scenery, new disaster. But on the level of spectacle, 2012 is top-notch.
11/12/09
A very long, very loud, and very stupid disaster flick that apparently accomplishes what it set out to do, which was to be long, loud, and stupid.
11/12/09
The amount of inanity exceeds the quantity of the special effects...and the movie is filled to the brim with them.
11/12/09
Roland Emmerich's latest Irwin Allen-on-steroids disaster movie is the mother of all apocalypse movies, and it mostly satisfies...
11/12/09
"2012" is yet another example of technological genius and story-telling mediocrity.
11/12/09
There are fates worse than death, and 2012 is one of them.
11/12/09
Hollywood's most successful one-trick pony, Emmerich claims to favor "human stories" over end-of-the-world spectacle, but watching 2012 is like watching a sausage machine explode.
11/12/09
Latest News for 2012
November 15, 2009:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: 2012 Destroys the Competition
This weekend Audiences were warned - by Mayans and film critics alike - but moviegoers around the world still flooded the multiplexes to see Roland Emmerich's latest disaster... More...
November 14, 2009:
Emmerich doesn't mess around when intent on messing up the world for good. But his pop apocalypse multiplying man's worst fears, always goes down easy with a side order of popcorn. Apocalypse Wow. 
More...
November 13, 2009:
Friday Harvest: Clash of the Titans, Kick-Ass, and more!
Happy Friday Harvest, a weekly round-up of the best pictures, posters, and videos that have become available for viewing/download on Rotten Tomatoes. Each section features the... More...
November 13, 2009:
Roland Emmerich Talks 2012 DVD/Blu-ray, Shakespeare Project, and More
Roland Emmerich is poised to destroy the world -- and rule the box office -- one more time with this weekend's release of "2012." What's next for Emmerich? Shakespeare. More...
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