The Mayans predicted it. The scientists saw it coming. And now finally, it has arrived — 2012, a near three-hour movie built entirely out of special effects set pieces and join-the-dots characterisation. The film is predicated on the notion that the world will end in 2012, as foretold by the Mayans and as validated by White House science boffin Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor). After some brief character intros (dejected dad and chauffeur John Cusack, Obama-style President Danny Glover and foxy President’s daughter Thandie Newton) the movie’s visual delights supersede the drama. Thanks to a £160 million budget, the special effects are initially breathtaking. The destruction of Los Angeles, in particular, is rendered in terrifyingly precise detail. Unfortunately, the laws of diminishing returns soon set in, and by the time St Peter’s Basilica crashes down on a thousand pious worshippers you can only gasp at the fact that there’s still an entire interminable hour of increasingly empty spectacle yet to unfold.
12A, 158mins