As Michael Bay's critic-proof Transformers sequel, Revenge of the Fallen, zoomed past $200 million in its first week in theaters, all eyes were immediately set on what might become the next smash-and-grab, things-go-boom blockbuster. And frankly, the horizon seemed pretty bleak. That is, until we saw the trailer for Roland Emmerich's 2012.
You remember Emmerich as the middlebrow, Hollywood-by-way-of-the-Rhine auteur who brought you such ear-shattering trash spectacles as Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Day After Tomorrow. To be honest, the guy has yet to make what anyone would call a "decent movie." For starters, he doesn't have a subtle bone in his body. But quality and a light touch aren't what's called for with this task. What's required is a staggering amount of money thrown at the screen in an attempt to cause as much digitally-rendered mayhem as humanly possible. And looking at his latest disaster-porn teaser, all signs indicate mission accomplished — not to mention a huge box-office hit when the thing finally steamrolls into multiplexes in November.
For anyone hip to Emmerich's ouevre, you'll notice some very familiar ingredients here. The global panic and chaos. The presence of a star (in this case John Cusack) whose career won't suffer too much from appearing in such a transparently commercial endeavor. Beloved monuments of the world getting smashed to smithereens (St. Peter's in the Vatican, the Washington Monument). Adorable kids in peril. Stirring speeches about fighting back. A smattering of cryptic sci-fi allusions. And, of course, a bombastic, over-the-top score to goose the bloated thing past the finish line.
In other words, where do we sign up? Check out the trailer and tell us what you think.
Maybe it’s just me, but I thought Emmerich’s “The Patriot” is pretty decent.
Also, as trashtastic as “Independence Day” is, I thoroughly enjoyed it when it came out (and I was 13) and I enjoy it today with considerably more irony. The trailer for 2012 kinda made me feel how the ID4 trailer made me feel when I first saw THAT.
it does seem pretty interesting. considering the fact 2012 is only three yrs. away. but does anyone else get that ‘knowing’ feeling about the movie?
Thank God Emmerich is a filmmaker. Because if he wasn’t, he’d probably be a terrorist with the amount of things he has destroyed in his films. Gotta love it. Why isn’t this coming out this weekend?
And “The Patriot” was better than “Decent”. Dare I say it’s underrated.
B…I’ll go with you on the underrated…especially Jason Isaacs as one of the more underrated villains in recent memory. (I wanted that dude to DIE.)
Just because he doesn’t make high-brow (read: boring) indie cinema, does not mean he has never made a decent movie. You would be hard pressed to find anyone (outside pretentious critics like yourself) who didn’t like Independence Day or The Patriot. The success of these movies, along with Transformers 2, prove that Americans WANT escapist flicks, especially during a summer of economic depression. So to Hollywood: continue giving directors like Emmerich and Michael Bay money to entertain the general public.
Independence Day was awful. Just cause the above commenter doesn’t have any taste, doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t.
Can’t wait!
Watching that trailer, I’m left wondering where else there is to go for disaster porn. This looks like it’s pretty much going to destroy everything. How does anyone top this?
Mind you, I’m not saying it’s going to be good. But now I’m curious, if only to see how many landmarks get blowed up real good.
Dan-
Good point. The big complaint for a while was the New York City usually bore the brunt of the disaster-movie punishment; this movie seems to go global in a big way.
I guess filmmakers will have to start destroying landmarks on other planets. Oh wait. Maybe we can build landmarks on other planets just to blow them up spectacularly.
Now, see, I liked The Day After Tomorrow…
The Patriot was a good movie, so he has that going for him.
But how many ways can you destroy New York before it gets old and tired?
Hunter – I would agree that there is nothing wrong with the escapist summer epic. I think the problem is that rather than this being the exception as an occasional guilty pleasure, it appears to have become the norm. For most people it seems, all their entertainment consists of this: mindless movies, mindless TV, mindless books/magazines. And so popularity then fuels more of the same, leading to a vicious circle.
First — was that young Shawn from Psych? Nice going kid!
Second — Did they just roll an air craft carrier OVER THE WHITE HOUSE? LMAO.
Looks like typical summer faire, strangely being released in November. I’d probably plop down my $9 for it.
I agree that “Independence Day” and “The Patriot” were both good movies. I saw ID4 in the theater when I was 12 and I enjoyed every minute. You know that FX will be playing the crap out of that movie this weekend.