The defining entrant in, and the nadir of, the disaster porn genre.
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11/12/09
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2012 (2009)
37
%
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
161 - 180 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
A soothing bath of Hollywood tropes and cliches.
11/12/09
Hokey happenstance, big special effects, some are pretty cool. It's no masterpiece, makes embarrassing mistakes, but I must admit - I really enjoyed the raw excitement.
11/12/09
Emmerich wasn't content to merely make the biggest disaster movie ever: he had to make every disaster movie ever... [I]t's like something Ed Wood would have made if he had a budget...
11/12/09
Emmerich mounts an all-out assault on the world and on quality filmmaking with this bloated disaster flick
11/12/09
Aside from a couple solid action sequences, this bloated epic is exhausting instead of exciting and sentimental but not sad.
11/12/09
If, as is believed in certain fringe circles, the world will come to an end in 2012, at least there will be no more movies like this one made.
11/12/09
I quite enjoyed the experience, at least the first five or six hours of it. 2012 is not simply the last disaster movie you ever need to see. It's the last movie you ever need to see.
11/12/09
There are times when 2012 feels as if it is not going to end until 2012...
11/12/09
It's cinematic waterboarding and there was more than one occasion during the film when I was convinced it was never going to end.
11/12/09
Doomsday is good therapy. What does it matter that billions die if that brings a family together in one big hug?
11/12/09
2012 - three hours of Irwin Allen rehash. Emmerick would have been better making up with Dean Devlin and making Godzilla 2.
11/12/09
This is fun. 2012 delivers what it promises, and since no sentient being will buy a ticket expecting anything else, it will be, for its audiences, one of the most satisfactory films of the year.
11/12/09
Top CriticIt's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel...like I have a headache.
11/12/09
It's an exhausting, clumsy mess, and its moments of excitement are eventually toppled by the unstoppable tsunami of cheese.
11/11/09
All the outright silliness can be quite entertaining, but it's unsatisfying to watch a movie spend so much time developing characters you can't possibly care about as you wait for Emmerich to throw in the next wave of destruction.
11/11/09
Terrible with no story, a god-awful cast led by the cursed Amanda Peet, and stale dialogue. Cheesy CGI.
11/11/09
Guilty pleasures don't come guiltier than 2012.
11/11/09
Sure the blu-ray DVD will look great on your home theater as ambient background for your next house party, but that's about it.
11/11/09
Wow special effects and a top supporting cast can’t override the numbing length of this best-of disaster movie blockbuster.
11/11/09
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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