RECOMMENDED

In a word:  Destructoriffic (hey, it's my website, I'll make up words if I want to!)

Plot:  The core of the Earth boils, the Earth's mantel shifts and mass destruction ensues.  All because some Mayans said so.  DAMN YOU, MAYANS!

Thoughts:  The end of the world will be brought to you by Sony Vaio!  Seriously, every person in this movie owned a Sony Vaio!  Amazing!

Okay, let's face it.  There is only one reason to watch a Roland Emmerich film and that's to see things blow up, fall down, break apart and basically get destroyed.  He's the new Irwin Allen, only without the storytelling abilities.  Forget the science (it's crap) and watch things go BOOM!  This one is better than "The Day After Tomorrow", not by much, but it is better.

John Cusack is likable as a writer who is just trying to save his family.  It's alway nice to see Chiwetel Ejiofor in a movie, here he plays a government geologist who is one of the first to discover that the world will end.  The two kids aren't nearly as annoying as they could have been.  The movie attempts quite a few scenes of "heart-wrenching" melancholy, and those are probably its weakest moments  I'm not sure why they bothered to include the jazz musicians, except to watch them die. 

The CGI is quite amazing, the end of the world never looked so good!  It's almost like getting 3 or 4 disaster movies for the price of one.  You have "Volcano", you have "The Poseidon Adventure", you have "Earthquake", heck you even get a bit of "Airport"  It all looks great. Don't worry that the plot is thin and the science is really bad.  It's kind of fun to watch California sink into the ocean!

Spoilers:  Some of the questions the silly plot raised:

Why would they need the money?  Seriously, this is the end of the world, you would think the could "make" enough capital to get the arks built, without having to sell seats to the hyper-wealthy. 

Why is there a camera in middle the main door hydraulics on the Ark?  Yes, I know, it's so we can see John Cusack's face as he tries to clear the jammed door.

Why don't any of the men feel cold?  The wife and children are bundled in parkas, hats and gloves - yet the men are sitting in shirtsleeves and looking  comfortable.

Why was Yuri bringing his cars?  I'm doubting they would have allowed him to bring them on the arK.  Yes, I know, it's so they would have an escape vehicle

If you liked this try: The Poseidon Adventure, Airport movies (in particular Airport '77), The Towering Inferno