MANILA, Philippines ? It appears that not even Hollywood executives are brave enough to court fate. Releasing the end-of-the-world movie, ?2012,? on Dec. 21, 2012, would have been an unbeatable coup, assuming that audiences would be brave enough to watch the film on the day itself. But, even the money men must have realized that they might be asking for too much trouble.

The newest movie from Roland Emmerich, the king of disaster flicks, is probably the most spectacular of its kind yet. The director/writer/producer just can?t seem to get enough of showing?in graphic detail?how the world as we know it can come to its jaw-droppingly disastrous end. And, judging by the box-office grosses of his previous mega-disaster movies (?Independence Day? and ?Day After Tomorrow?), audiences can?t seem to get enough of watching them.

Footsteps

?2012? follows in the footsteps of those doomsday flicks?it?s big, visually stunning and chock-full of hair-raising, cheating-death-by-a-millisecond sequences. It?s also often illogical, cheesy, ludicrous and unintentionally funny. In other words, if you?re looking for in-depth insights on how the human race would behave in the face of an apocalyptic calamity, you won?t find them here.

It?s long, as well (it clocks in at around two hours and 40 minutes)?though, to be fair, you won?t notice its length until you get to the final, more dragging scenes. For most of the movie, there?s too much sensational visual spectacle going on for you to realize that you?ve actually been watching people trying to dodge death and destruction for more than two hours already.

2012 is a significant year in the Mayan calendar, though whether or not it actually predicts the end of the human race is open for debate. The film chooses to interpret the end of the Maya Long Count calendar as the end of the world, an event brought about by solar flares that heat up the earth?s core, resulting in crustal displacement and polar shift.

Scenes of destruction

Whether or not the science behind this is sound, it certainly results in some mind-blowing scenes of destruction. Watch the streets of LA buckle and roll like waves, St. Peter?s Cathedral crumbling and falling, as well as the Eiffel Tower, the statue of Christ in Rio, etc.

The Everyman we?re meant to identify with is unsuccessful novelist-turned-chauffeur, Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), who?s smarter and more fleshed-out than characters in other disaster flicks often turn out to be. Despite their best efforts, however, Cusack and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oliver Platt, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson, Tom McCarthy, Amanda Peet and Thandie Newtown just can?t put a truly human perspective into what?s essentially a soulless enterprise.

Still, while heart and reason part company in ?2012,? you won?t really mind. Just sit back, grab a bucket of popcorn, and enjoy the fireworks. To ensure maximum enjoyment, get a shot of caffeine beforehand, and put your higher brain functions on sleep mode.