Twenty 12?

20 Twelve?

Anyway, I'm split right down the middle on this one. I think the first two hours are fucking awesome. They don't pretend to be anything more than preposterous action, and that's fine, because it's entertaining. The last half-hour, however, is absolute shit, because it throws that all out the window and suddenly turns into a dark, serious drama that I have no reason to buy into given what came before it.

Also, as I recall, the last 40-minute-long chunk of the film that had to do with them getting into the ship is unspeakably boring.

Dorkman, I think I agree more with your initial thoughts on plot vs. story, compared to your final statements.  To me, plot is the events that happen to and around the characters, and the story is how these events look through the characters eyes, and how they react to it.

Very fun commentary guys, thanks so much.  Also, thanks for picking a movie that is streaming on Netflix.

It sounds like the prinicpal complaint is that the movie sits in that half way space between being a serious drama and a cheesy fun blockbuster. By dipping a toe in both waters, the story fails to be very effective at either one.

So it fails on the Deep Impact level, and fails too on the Armaggedon level.

I thought the movie was ok, but I'm kinda shocked at how almost cavalier it is about death. We're seeing literally millions of people dying on screen and it lacks any sort of emotional power. I think this is partly a result of the audience being focused on the ridiculous escapes and the plot shields around the leads. LA is being totally destroyed, homes are being crushed, swallowed and wiped away, and here is a car outdriving it all. It undermines the danger and thus distances us from the fact that people are actually dying, a feeling which is helped along by the epic wide shots. I think wow (or worse, cool), that is a nice effect, when I should be horrified.

I was amused that Teague was basically going back to the same sort of questions he asked in Wild Wild West- movie 1 has a, b, and c, movie 2 has a, b, and c, so how can you say movie 2 is bad and movie 1 is good? As if a work of art is just the sum of its parts and everything is interchangeable.

My sister and I also want to see the sequel to this, where the Africans say "hell no" to the Arks and try and fight them off

In case I didn't get it out clearly, that ^ is the #1 reason I was in such a rage on this particular track.

I didn't like the movie but loved the FX. As soon as Hollywood starts putting as much effort into the stories and scripts as Pixar does we'll be all set.

Enjoyed the commentary. I usually don't like a lot of crosstalk but you can't help but smile when Jake points out all the stuff he loves. Makes me see the movie in a new light as i'm watching along.