2012 (2009)

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I haven't actually seen many Roland Emmerich movies... well ok, looking through his IMDb I've seen Stargate, Independence Day and 10,000BC but I didn't know he did Stargate so... anyway... The point is I haven't seen The Day After Tomorrow. Though, I've seen bits of here and there and it looks an awful lot like 2012. I guess he has a type, he goes for a epic story... and he has a slight fondness for the epic disaster. That's cool, I like a good epic film as much as the next person. I haven't actually seen that many disaster movies though and they're not know for being great films though so I didn't want to expect to much out of this one.

Then again, I loved Armageddon; and Independence Day; and Deep Impact... So maybe I never really had anything to worry about with 2012. It's a big, silly, cheesy, funny epic disaster movie. I laughed a lot, I might even have shed a little tear or two; what more do you want! It is as cheesy as quattro formaggi pizza, but like Armageddon, you just have to go with it, this isn't high art here...

The best thing about it really are the action sequences, when things start exploding and flying through the air you kind of forget that they had just spent half an hour or so trying to tell you when and why this was going to happen. It doesn't matter anyway. Though, for what it's worth, the plot exposition at the start wasn't particularly painful. It was kind of interesting. Looking back though, I couldn't really tell you what excuse they gave for this particular armageddon... it had something to do with solar flares, mutant neutrinos and bubbling magma (I don't think they actually used the word magma though. That might involve having a character explaining what magma is). Anyway whatever, like I said, it doesn't matter at all. All that matters is that it leads to some amazing, fantastic special effects sequences. I saw this in one of the biggest cinema screens in Ireland and I wished it was bigger, and louder. I guess I should have just sat closer...

In case you don't know, 2012 actually has a great cast as well. John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover, all great actors who perform ably in this. Woody Harrelson in particular is excellent. In fact I do think that with a lesser cast this could have been awful. As it is, it gets away with it. I'm sure it wasn't a particularly taxing role for any of them but a script like that requires some skill to not make it not sound horrific...

Let me make this clear though. This is not a good film. Don't blame me if you go see it and you think it's the stupidest film you've ever seen. I never said it wasn't stupid. The stuff that happens in it is actually outrageous. Really ridiculous. But it's also an enjoyable, hilarious film and honestly, I've never seen the likes of those effects before. Well, not on that kind of scale. I mean really, they're amazing. Amazing and funny. I do recommend that if you don't mind your movies served with cheese you should go see this. See it now.

8/10

Oh actually, I do have one criticism. At 158 mins it is a bit long. I was fine because I knew it was going to be long but I know some won't be up for that. They could have shaved 15-20 mins off it easy. We don't really need the monk stuff, and the boat stuff is a bit unnecessary. Ok, it was a bit emotional and I like that but there was already plenty of space for that kind of thing with the rest of the characters. So that's the reason it's getting an 8 not a 9 or 10.

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The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (2009)

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Looking over Terry Gilliam's filmography on IMDb, I notice that I've actually seen 9 of his 14 films... so you'd think I'd have an idea by now of what to expect. But the fact is that you just can't know what to expect with him. Except that it's going to be odd.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is odd. To be honest, I don't know if I liked it. It was interesting but it wasn't particularly satisfying. It looked good but I don't know... I thought it would look amazing, that it would be set in this fantastical whimsical land and it wasn't. But at the same time I don't know why I really expected that... jumping to conclusions... I guess the word Imaginarium conjures up, for me, a carnival kind of atmosphere and that's kind of backdrop we'd have on the story. But it wasn't. Which is fine, it just wasn't what I expected.

What it was, was a loose modern-day old style cautionary tale. Or at least that's the best way I can describe it. My problem with it was that the story was... clouded. Or not clouded enough, they could have gone either way and like so many films, they just didn't really decide which way to go. I suppose my opinion has to come in here as well... I like a good reveal and it kept looking like there was going to be one but in the end it was split. There was a reveal but there was a drip feed as well and I just don't know if the timing really worked. There wasn't really that convergence that you need with if you're doing both.

There is, of course, the inevitable question. How much of an effect did Heath Ledger's death have on the film? I don't think the effect is particularly apparent but how can I know? Terry Gilliam's films are such personal works that it's hard to imagine that it wasn't affected in some way. I do think the transitions are seamless though, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell can be proud of their work. They really do uphold Heath Ledger's legacy, they completed his last work while in no way treading on it. The faces changed but the character continued on.

Quick mentions as well, I thought Lily Cole was very good. I look forward to seeing her in more films. Andrew Garfield (who played Anton) on the other hand was crap, he almost spoiled the film on the me to be honest. What surprises me is that I've read other reviews where people really like him. I don't know why he was in the film at all... either get a better actor to bump up the character or write a role for him that is *ahem* better suited to his talent. Actually it's annoying me thinking about him... I'll forget him now.

So, what more can I say? It's a strange film. I would recommend it because I definitely think it's worth a watch, it's extremely imaginative... In fact the more I think about it the more I liked it, maybe I should watch it again. But the problem remains, I just didn't think it was that fulfilling... though it did remind me... if you play with fire...

7.5/10

N.B. You know what, I'm not actually sure what the Imaginarium was in the end... was it the mirror, the show or the imagining?

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