2012 Supernova

I am starting to expect a cheapo version of a major release by the people of 'The Asylum' studios at least once a month. To piggyback on the release of John Cusack's '2012' they have cranked out this film. If they can only get their CGI to match up with their 'hutspa' they could become a real going concern. They certainly are keeping the direct to video market alive. Virtually all of the money goes into special effects and its shows. Crappy sets and bad actors are a staple.

I confess that I have a softspot for these films and the creature features that appear on SciFy. They don't overthink things and sometimes can be quite entertaining.

This one however has its own problems and it all goes back to the writing. There is no need to have the Chinese scientist be a cold bitch, the Russian scientist to be a drunk who actually drinks his vodka at work in the launch center, the wife to be a shrew, and the terrorists to wear their their Palestinian scarves just in case we missed that fact that they were bad guys. We will get it without all the hand holding.

The story has nothing to do with the Mayan calendar but instead concerns a blast of gamma rays approaching Earth from a distant supernova (hence the title). The brightest minds (including Brian Krause as Professor Calvin - gotta love that) have decided to meet that force with a cloud of radiation from nuclear weapons launched from a space platform. Its all pretty stupid but standard from this company. Using actual footage of the Challenger Space Shuttle exploding to advance the plot is pretty cold and tasteless.

The surviving grace are the scenes of planetary destruction as the deadly supernova comes closer. Not great but serviceable. I kept thinking how alike this movie was to similar ones that came out in the 1950s. Substitute gamma cloud for radioactive creature and they are interchangeable.

Overall I watched because the women playing the professor's wife and daughter were cute and I enjoyed seeing them run from one crisis to another. The space scenes were extremely weak and I don't see this one selling well which is why they put the date '2012' on the CD box.