2012: Ice Age is a film that asks “What would happen if a giant arctic glacier started moving South and began destroying the North-East United States?” Apparently, it would get colder.

Our film follows the Hart family. The father, Bill, and mother, Teri, – along with their son, Nelson – are attempting to reach their daughter, Julie, who has just moved to New York for college. The film follows the family’s race to get to New York from Maine before the glacier and Julie’s journey to get out of New York with her boyfriend, Logan.

If I were to decide on what bothered me the most about this film, it would be a lack of engagement. For a city that is about to be hit by a speeding glacier, there are some shots of people just strolling about like it’s just an average day and not an impending frozen apocalypse. Likewise, there are a few shots that appeared to have been filmed while someone was driving on a snowy day.

Now if I were to pick my highlights of the film, they would be two lines:

1. “So you’ve declared war on a glacier.” – This one can be heard in the trailer embedded above.
2. “How can a glacier move at 200 miles per hour?”

These two lines, based partially on their absurdity, are what will possibly stay with me the longest after viewing this movie.

The CGI and effects aren’t great. You can easily tell that the glacier, several cars, and destroyed buildings were made and not real. Though they do get the job done and I’ve seen poorer examples.

2012: Ice Age is not a good movie, but their’s certainly worse out there if you just feel like watching a disaster film and don’t want to think too much about what’s going on.