Let me say one thing right up front: this is a bad movie.
It frequently violates laws of physics and often fails to even maintain internal consistency (exactly how does a 1500 meter wave clear 24,000 meter mountains?) It is awesome throwback in its gender attitudes (women sit in the back with the kids while we menfolk take a look at what to do next). The plotting hinges on a variety of exceedingly improbable coincidences. The characters are barely two dimensional and the deployment of them is predictable (given a triangle between Marquee Star, Marquee Star and Guy You've Never Heard Of, how do you guess things will be resolved). Dialogue is awesomely ridiculous, particularly at the Deep and Heavy moments-- there's a spot where Thandie Newton earns an Oscar for a reaction shot in which she acts as if her scene partner has just been profound when he hasn't even made sense.
But these guys are the kings of spectacle. As they did in Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla and Day After Tomorrow, they convey the scale and scope of events in a manner that lets you really feel how awesome such a sight would be. It is gloriously destructive. Millions of people die in anonymous manners-- it's either reprehensible that we don't really feel it or comforting that we don't really see it, but mostly it's disaster staging that doesn't force us to look away.
The actors really sell it; Cusack does his action film thing well, Harrelson chews the scenery with glee, the little girl is convincingly sad, Danny Glover really does look old and tired, and Chiwetel Ejiofor really really feels it all.
Repeated viewings only give you more things to make fun of while you're enjoying the awesome pictures, and there's an alternate ending that proves that even Roland Emmerich has limits to just how cheestastic he can get. Do yourself a favor and don't watch the extra ending until you've had a chance to really soak up and appreciate the rest of the film.
The Destruction of LA and the Eruption of Yellowstone are worth the price of admission all by themselves. If you are only going to buy one guilty pleasure this year, make it this film.
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