the world ends...epically
29 Dec 2009 02:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mayoraaseiWatched 2012 today. It was............very long............Orz
The plot was predictable and most people died exactly where I thought they'd die. The graphics were impressive although very CG-looking. Thankfully, it avoided being explicit with scenes of death and carnage. Although at points it felt like a conventional horror story (random people dropping off the group by dying in horrible ways), it also avoided harping on about the terror, focussing instead on more positive emotions.
At points I was confused as to what the movie is trying to say, particularly as to its stance on religion - almost everyone turns to prayer in the end, and yet monuments and followers to various faiths are just as easily swallowed as anyone else.
The rest of the plot hinges on an optimistic belief in the human heart and the human capacity for compassion. According to Liar Game 2 (LOL) humans are the only creatures who can feel sympathy for a stranger. It believes that in the end, when it really matters, humans will open the doors to other fellow humans and save them. Of course, the fact that they didn't have to sacrifice much and that they've only really opened the doors to those who already bought the 1 billion euro admission tickets in the first place and not the poor undeserving masses left to drown in the tsunami is completely beside the point. Although they did take aboard all the factory workers who worked their asses off for 3 years to get these boats made in time.
In a way, most of the deaths were glorified - whether it's the masses praying quietly as the tsunami overwhelmed them, or the president kneeling with his countrymen, or our major characters who almost all died directly or indirectly because they tried to save someone else.
The message is sentimental, that our humanity is defined by our recognition of our bonds to other humans. Deaths that were noble were because they had sacrificed themselves for someone they love; and people made noble choices because they could care for others. The one antagonist in the story was fixated only on his own welfare...but it believes that people will return to conscience and choose to trade selfish comfort for mercy.
Subliminal message: Made in China products are reliable enough to survive running into Mt. Everest =D
The plot was predictable and most people died exactly where I thought they'd die. The graphics were impressive although very CG-looking. Thankfully, it avoided being explicit with scenes of death and carnage. Although at points it felt like a conventional horror story (random people dropping off the group by dying in horrible ways), it also avoided harping on about the terror, focussing instead on more positive emotions.
At points I was confused as to what the movie is trying to say, particularly as to its stance on religion - almost everyone turns to prayer in the end, and yet monuments and followers to various faiths are just as easily swallowed as anyone else.
The rest of the plot hinges on an optimistic belief in the human heart and the human capacity for compassion. According to Liar Game 2 (LOL) humans are the only creatures who can feel sympathy for a stranger. It believes that in the end, when it really matters, humans will open the doors to other fellow humans and save them. Of course, the fact that they didn't have to sacrifice much and that they've only really opened the doors to those who already bought the 1 billion euro admission tickets in the first place and not the poor undeserving masses left to drown in the tsunami is completely beside the point. Although they did take aboard all the factory workers who worked their asses off for 3 years to get these boats made in time.
In a way, most of the deaths were glorified - whether it's the masses praying quietly as the tsunami overwhelmed them, or the president kneeling with his countrymen, or our major characters who almost all died directly or indirectly because they tried to save someone else.
The message is sentimental, that our humanity is defined by our recognition of our bonds to other humans. Deaths that were noble were because they had sacrificed themselves for someone they love; and people made noble choices because they could care for others. The one antagonist in the story was fixated only on his own welfare...but it believes that people will return to conscience and choose to trade selfish comfort for mercy.
Subliminal message: Made in China products are reliable enough to survive running into Mt. Everest =D
