This New 2012 Movie Took a Radically Wrong Turn, Somewhere

Okay, 2001 was a warped, deadpan classic. I loved it. I have sat through the entire thing, more than once. And, perhaps in the minority, I also really loved 2010. I thought they did a great job of making a sequel that seemed set in the same universe, while also somehow coming across as almost a completely different genre from the first one. It was a high-wire balancing act, to strike the tone the way they did. A gamble, but I say it paid off.

So when I heard about this new one, and that it featured your boy, mister John Cusack - well hell. I was ecstatic! But a bit worried. Because...what more is there to be told, to this story? Where can they go from where we last left off? My curiosity was piqued, to say the least!

And at this point, well, I hate to say more than the least. I hate to have to say more. I hate to say this, I hate to be the one to report it - and I guess I should first say ***SPOILER WARNING*** as well, but it just breaks my heart to have to say this: they have completely lost the plot. This installment totally violates the spirit and aesthetic of the earlier films. It's just...oh, man. Where to even start?

There's like, next to zero outer space activity. I don't even understand how this catastrophe crap is supposed to tie in. This isn't a space odyssey of any kind, it's nothing but an earth-bound, well-crafted, but ultimately vacuous disaster flick.

I can't even get across how let down I am. John Cusack - hell, John, great job as always with the character you were given. You nearly save this colossal miscalculation of a film. But why on earth did you even sign on for this?

Roland Emmerich - well, I can't say I'm surprised. Skilled technician, you are. Stanley Kubrick, you ain't. Nor even Peter Hyams, for that matter. But you could have done better than this. Why bother revisiting an iconic concept, just to chuck out the whole spirit of the original?

Worst. Sequel. Ever.

Just. About.