Roland Emmerich’s blockbusters of past have been about as memorable as episodes of Prison Break – which send me to sleep faster than the last season of Lost which is really saying something. Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow were all right though thoroughly forgettable. Godzilla sucked eggs (Matthew Broderick up against a giant lizard? I mean gimme a bloody break!). 10 000 B.C. prompted me to eject the DVD after ten minutes and hurl to my local video shop begging for a swap – which I got (thanks Tony!).

Fortunately, I have never made the mistake of actually watching any of these vacuous flicks at the cinema.

But this time, was prepared to make an exception.

Cusack’s In It!

So. In case you missed it, am a bit of a Cusack nutter which prompts me to watch him in anything I can on the big screen. Though might have to resist that impulse when Hot Tub Machine (WTF!) comes to town. You wouldn’t see me there even if Marlon Brando himself (favorite actor of all time) rose from the dead and starred next to Cusack (ooh, on second thoughts).

Anyway, back to the movie at hand.

I was pleasantly surprised.

I expected 100% crap and got only 80% crap. That’s a massive 20% less crap than what I thought I would get.

The first ten minutes felt sort of like a Bourne movie – sort of – skidding across the globe from Washington DC to Paris to Tibet to London, which kept me guessing. Then the “human” part of the story, with a pretty decent array of actors.

Chriwetel Ejiofox as the government scientist with a strong moral compass who sounds the alarm to world leaders about the Earth’s crust heating up. Oliver Platt as ruthless politician with a thirst for power – surprise, surprise. Danny Glover as US President with a conscience. Thandie Newton as First Daughter who inherits her fathers good conscience, who you know is going to end up with the scientist with the strong moral compass and if there’s a sequel to 2012 (ah yes, the irony), they shall churn forth off-spring who will carry on the spirit of the human race. (Whoops, Spoiler. But come on, like you don’t know that’s gonna happen the moment they meet?)

Then of course, Cusack himself as unsuccessful novelist Jackson Curtis, whose latest novel sold all of 400 copies. There’s also his ex-wife, Kate (played by the lovely Amanda Peets), her husband Gordon Silberman (Tom McCarthy) – a plastic surgeon who we know must die in order for Cusack to see the error of his ways and reunite with Peets and their adorable kids Noah (Liam James) and Lilly (Morgan Lily) by end of the movie.

Finally, there’s the performance that steals the show. Woody Harrelson in his element, as the pickle-crunching spaced-out crackpot Charlie Frost, who sprouts conspiracy theories on the airwaves from a camper in the middle of Yellowstone National Park. Emmerich disposes of Charlie early on – pity. But it’s such a breath of fresh air that you’re happy to strap in and go for the ride.

And what a ride.

Owing to credible performances by Cusack, Ejiofox, Harrelson and Glover (though would’ve liked to have seen more of him, acting-wise), a script that focused as much as any popcorn doomsday flick can on character, there might even have been something reminiscent of – dare I say it – the disaster flicks of old.

Though that being said, 2012 remains an apocalyptic movie of limited Emmerich dimensions.

First, there’s the prediction of the Mayan calendar that the world will come to an end by Dec 21 2012, which features largely in previews, but barely comes into play in the movie. In fact, the only time we touch on it is when Cusack, asleep on the couch, has left the TV on and a reporter refers to it on the news.

But that’s cool. Cusack’s in it.

Jackson Curtis does survive some ridiculously incredible situations with the resilience of a superhero – for which one might be prepared to suspend one’s disbelief had he been a cop or athlete or stuntman. But a fiction writer?

That’s cool. Cusack’s in it.

And of course, the usual insufferable cornball monologue, just seconds before a massive tsunami threatens to wipe everyone out – about humanity and integrity and all that bullshit which we know no one would give a flying fuck about should the world truly be coming to an end.

But that’s cool. Yes, you got it. Cusack – looking mighty cute and hunky.

All right. So if you’re not a chick, or a chick who likes Cusack and you’re actually reading this to find out if you should go see the movie, Why not.

I mean, as far as mindless disaster epics go, it pretty much ticks all the boxes.

Not short of thrills. Has a little twist towards the end – not telling. Good fun. Doesn’t send you to sleep.

Oh, and almost forgot. Cusack’s In it!