Why "2012" got to me

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not into that "end of the world"-crap, I don't think we will all die in 2012, and I certainly don't think that if we should, we would have the technology to build archs like the ones in "2012". So, yes, when I entered the cinema I was a true skeptic.

And it started off like any other movie with too many special effects and too little focus on the actual story: Some science guy was in a tunnel in India, in which an Indian scientist had discovered that the latest sun storm was so heavy that it had made a lot of neutrons, and now there were so many that the world was overheating - from within. Yeah right. And the American scientist who visited the Indian scientist went straight back to the US and before you know it, he's working for the president. YEAH RIGHT.

But it got better, it truly did. Before I really start off this review; I have to make one thing clear: I'm a sucker for cliches. White weddings, tearful goodbyes, selfless sacrifices - you name it, in a movie it always makes me cry. And "2012" were full of those moments (although no wedding). The hero of the story is the family father Jackson Curtis, who, when he's camping with his kids in Yellowstone national park, stumbles upon a secret federal operation - and a conspiracy nut telling him the world is going to end. The Mayans predicted it, the I-Ching, even the Bible hints about it. But, he also tells Curtis that the governments of the world have united to build archs to save humanity. But they can only take so few... And to prevent chaos, they're not informing the people. Charlie, which is the conspiracy nut's name, is the man who has taken upon himself the task to inform the public. Curtis believes the man is crazy, but the recent chaotic weather is a little suspicious. When Curtis and his children meet two spoiled, fat Russian children who say that "they're going on a big plane, and you can't come", Curtis realizes Charlie was right all along, and in the middle of a California in chaos (earthquakes, storms, tsunamis, everything) he somehow manages to get ahold of a plane, and gets his family inside. From there on ensues a wild ride over huge parts of the world - first back to Yellowstone, to get the map for where the government have hidden these archs, and then - to China. But of course there are complications...

We also follow the young scientist who's now working for the president, and the president itsef. All these fates are spun together, and it is really quite amazing to watch. I was sure it would just be special effects and action sequences through the entire film, and although there was a lot of that, the story was good and the actors were much better than I expected. The human drama, seeing the end to our civilization, to everything we know and everyone we love - THAT was the main focus of the movie all along. And human drama makes me cry. When the American president chooses to stay behind to die with his people, when the scientist craves that they let more people into the archs, when the fat, Russian businessman sacrificed himself to save his children - and, especially during the most intense scene of them all, the hydraulic scene - I sobbed like a baby.

So that's why it got to me. It was something about all the cliches, about all the sad moments - but also, the thought that one day, this WILL happen, civilization will cease to exist - and whatever comes after, we will be gone forever. The sun will swallow us. It is an impossible thought, a world without humans - so beautiful and terrifying all at once. I actually feel myself recommending this movie now, Charlie is so cool it's worth it, and it IS really intense and exciting - and there's some major crying possibilities. So go see it, enjoy it, and remember: You heard it from Charlie first!