A Perfect Ending

The movie 2012 is an end-of-the-world thriller, magnificently produced and filmed to present a visceral, visual, powerful element that captures the end of the world vibration and relays it perfectly. "We were warned," the movie poster says, and this feeling pervades the film, which stars John Cusack and Danny Glover as well as Woody Harrelson and others.

As soon as the disaster strikes, and the land begins to tumble into the ocean, quite literally, the camera zones in on the protagonist Jackson, who is played by Cusack. Jackson has to soldier his family through the mayhem and then is called to respond, via the government, to the end of the world situation. The phenomenon references the Mayan calendar, as it presents a visceral end-of-the-world thriller, perhaps a new genre, as more movies appear on the shelves and screens depicting end-of-the-world situations.

The film grossed $770 million at the box office when it was released in 2009.