The film begins in year 2009, when there is a huge explosion on the
surface of the sun. We then see Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), an
American scientist, traveling to a copper mine in India to meet his
friend, who discovered that Earth's temperature is increasing rapidly.
He returns to Washington D.C. and submits a report to his supervisor,
who immediately takes him to the president. In 2010, we see the
President of the United States tell other heads of state the situation
(the world is ending) and we also see billionaires all over the world
buying plane tickets for untold sums of money. In 2011 the original of
The Mona Lisa in the Louvre is replaced with a decoy, and is sealed
away for unknown reasons.
The story jumps ahead to 2012. Jackson
Curtis (John Cusack), a divorced father who works as a limousine driver
and writer, and his ex-wife, Kate Curtis (Amanda Peet), and children,
Noah (Liam James) and Lily (Morgan Lily), who live with Kate's new
boyfriend, Gordon (Thomas McCarthy). Jackson takes his children on a
camping trip to Yellowstone, where he meets Charlie Frost, who hosts a
radio segment that addresses the Mayans' prediction. Charlie mentions a
map of where special ships are, but Jackson assumes he is a rambling
drunk and leaves him. Kate and Gordon and in a super market buying
groceries when the floor begins to crack and the supermarket is split
in half. Jackson gets a call that he has to return from camping with
the kids. Jackson arrives at the house and drops the kids off, and
takes his limo to a job. He goes to the house of Russian billionaire
Yuri Karpov. Jackson takes Yuri, his children and his girlfriend to the
airport. The children make cruel comments to Jackson, and as they board
the plane, they mention they have tickets to board the ships and
Jackson doesn't. This leads Jackson to believe Charlie's story, and he
rents a plane. Jackson hurries to Kate's house and picks up her, the
kids, and Gordon as the house collapses and a massive earthquake
begins. They drive through L.A while it is being destroyed and arrive
just in time at the airport.
When they get to Santa Monica
Airport, the pilot that Jackson hires is killed by a falling structure.
Kate mentions that Gordon knows how to fly (gordon protest's, he has
only had a few lessons) so they tell him to fly the plane out of L.A.
From the sky, we see L.A sinking into the Pacific Ocean. Jackson
announces they have to get to Yellowstone to get the map from Charlie.
They fly there and Jackson goes looking for Charlie. He finds his R.V
and takes it out looking for Charlie, and he finds him at the top of a
hill waiting for the impact. Charlie tells Jackson where the map is and
he rushes back to the R.V as a massive explosion goes off, hurtling
rocks in every direction. Jackson gets to the plane and they take off
for China.
The group lands in Las Vegas and they meet Yuri.
Yuri's plane is damaged, but he and Sasha, Yuri's pilot, find a cargo
plane that carries automobiles. Las Vegas is destroyed by earthquakes
and ravaged by the impeding volcanic ash cloud of Yellowstone. Yuri has
2 children and his girlfriend with him.
While in the air, the
group learns that the plane does not have enough fuel to reach China:
they've passed Honolulu, Hawaii, which has been inundated in lava. As
they're about to ditch the plane they discover that they are no longer
above the ocean: the Earth's crust has shifted thousands of miles and
they are heading towards the Himalayas. During a crash landing on a
glacier they manage to escape from the plane safely by using one of the
luxury vehicles in cargo as a raft. The group ditches the car and a
helicopter lands, they ask for tickets and Yuri shows his three
tickets. He goes on the helicopters with his 2 children and leaves his
girlfriend and the group behind.
The group eventually find their
way to the ships with the help of some locals and are smuggled aboard
with the help of a Buddhist monk and a construction worker. Gordon dies
as they board. Tsunamis begin to engulf the Indian peninsula, and a
giant wave eventually reaches the ships, which turn out to be arks
constructed to save the heads of state, hand-picked individuals chosen
to repopulate the earth and the rich elite, who could afford to buy
tickets. A massive flood is heading towards the ship, and due to a wire
left by Jackson in the ships gate, the gate isnt able to close, and the
engines arent able to start. Jackson manages to get the gates closed
just in time, and the ships cruise off. A title appears that says Day
27 Month 01 Year 01. The group is living on the ark, and Jackson and
Kate seem to have gotten back together. The captain of the ship learns
that Africa was able to miss catastrophe and is safe to venture too.
The ship heads for Africa, and a view from space shows all continents
have moved together and are in the shape of Africa.
But why is it in 2012?
The movie has an explanation.
According to the Mayan predictions, the Earth has a lifespan of five solar eras, and we are now in the fifth solar era!
The fifth solar era began in Year 3113 in the Mayan calendar, and will end after the 5125-year Mayan cycle.
The sun will then vanish, and our planet will experience earth-moving changes that will see it through its demise.
This terminal date is equivalent to the 22nd of December 2012 in our calendar.
Coincidentally, the Tang Dynasty prediction in ancient China also
foretold that the Earth would undergo a complete makeover, which could
be interpreted as the end of the existing world, in the Year of Dragon
(2012).
Call that coincidence or sheer superstition, but NASA satellite data
have shown that the oceanic ice in the Arctic Circle this summer is
only half its coverage four years back.
A NASA scientist has said, "At this speed, the Arctic Ocean will be totally depleted of ice at the end of 2012 summer."
As a matter of fact, we have a good deal of books and movies
plotting around the 2012 Doomsday prediction; but in the past, we
didn't see so many natural disasters as we do now, and such predictions
and stories therefore hardly raised a brow in this world back then.
However, we have a fair share of earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes,
sand storms and droughts in recent months, and this has triggered
widespread alarm among people who are not typically bothered about
environment preservation.
Be it three years, 30 years, or 300 years. If we keep consuming our
Earth this way, we will send our planet to its end sooner or later.
I don't care whether you believe in 2012, but my personal prediction is that: 2012 is going to sell like nobody's business. (By TAY TIAN YAN/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)
