There is no debate that sci-fi is one of the most popular movie genres. With stories that use science as a basis for pushing humanity and society into new and sometimes terrifying territory, it’s a genre that captivates and thrills while also posing deep, serious questions at the same time. But even within the sci-fi genre, there are little niches that might just be even more popular and thought-provoking. That includes the apocalyptic disaster genre. The frequent “what if” element of things going horrifically wrong that drives the drama in these films, while often rooted in fact, takes things to extremes, challenging audiences in unique ways and one of the biggest in recent years is now free to stream on Tubi.
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Directed by Godzilla filmmaker Roland Emmerich, 2012 was released in 2009 and is based on a fairly simple premise: what if the whole Mayan calendar “prediction” that the world would end in 2012 is actually right? In the film, that means that the world begins to undergo catastrophic disasters including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and megatsunamis as a herald of the end of the world. The film specifically follows a sci-fi novelist working as a chauffeur named Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) and geologist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) as they try to survive as everything falls apart.
2012 Uses a Lot of Apocalyptic Fiction Tropes But Excels In Their Application
Most apocalyptic fiction, be it movies, books, or television series, adheres to a few of the same tropes and themes. The biggest usually involves government betrayal in that there’s knowledge about the impending doom that leaders conceal from the general public while secretly making plans to save the elites. That latter part, the plan to save the elites, is also a common element of apocalyptic fiction with many of these kinds of stories feature some sort of escape plan that comes at a high, high cost. 2012 utilizes both of these elements, with the various world governments already aware that the 2012 prediction may well be real and already making plans for arks—with some of the spots on said arks being sold to the wealthy.
But while those elements are at the core of 2012, instead of the film focusing on the cover up and the uneven use of rescue arks, the film is genuinely more about the central characters efforts to survive the unsurvivable. The result is a film that’s big on action and spectacle. The visual effects for the film—particularly those involving the megatsunami and the resulting catastrophic flood are very impressive. All of the disaster effects are impressive, so much so that you almost don’t really focus on the story; you’re there for the disaster. And, when the movie hit theaters, audiences certainly came out for the disaster, too. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the film brought in a massive $791.2 million at the global box office, making it one of the highest grossing films of the year. Now, you can check it out for yourself on Tubi this May. And the best part? We survived 2012 in the real world so at least we can rest easy that this one really is just sci-fi.
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