DVD: 2012:Doomsday

This semi-christian movie is about a group of archeologists who uncover a seemingly anachronistic crucifix in a Mayan ruin in South America and he feels destined to deliver it to another Mayan temple where he can use it to fulfill a prophecy.It is mid December 2012, and for anyone who has read up on the doomsday prophecies current and ancient civilizations predicted the world to end on 12-21-2012. So our movie shows many terrible natural disasters that cause havoc worldwide, including a massive tornado that destroys most of California, massive tidal waves that eradicate entire large islands and the western coastline, and a series of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that threaten to destroy most of the continent of South America. One imagines similar events are occuring worldwide(although this is a low budget movie so they focused on one geography.) The world's best scientists have no explanation for what is happening. The daughter of one of these scientist, a young female Christian missionary and a pregnant villager on the verge of giving birth that feel compelled to go to the temple to. There's also a young female paramedic who has been having dreams about this Mayan temple and ends up driving there. All of these people headed to the same place, either to stop the end of the world or bring about a new one. Along the way there are other secondary characters that help the characters on their journeys, and then mysteriously disappear. Mix in some mixed-up Christian elements and Mayan prophecies about 2012 and that's the movie.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie more than I expected to. Partly due to the fact that I am fascinated by the 2012 prophecies and all the different interpretations, and partly because I have worked with Dale Midkiff in the past and he's a great guy.
This was an interesting take on the prophecy. Many ancient religions have foretold of this date and there are countless books out on the subject. One of my favorites being Fractal Time by Gregg Braden (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x7nFIwBaPI). Braden points out that Dec 21, 2012 is the end of a world age not necessarily the end of the world. It is how humans react to the changes our world will go through as the poles switch polarity that will tell if it is truly an apocalyspe. The movie also follows that idea, as the date marks a time when God will bring together a group of messengers to help the world start anew.

There is some bad acting, poorly thought out production elements(Mayan temples in Mexico just outside of California border, hmm) and some continuity problems with the film but as someone who has seen some truly horrible big budget films and who has worked on both big budget and low budget films, this film was well made for what they had to work with. Although some of the production elements are flawed, it doesn't take away from the story they are trying to tell. The film has a made for TV feel, if you are a fan of the Sci-fi(now Syfy) and USA movies you will not be disappointed with this film. In fact you might be pleasantly surprised as it is story driven, not cheesy bimbos running around screaming and being hacked up. And for those who are fans of the Christian films such as Meggido, you will enjoy this film.