History YMMV / TwoThousandTwelve

* DesignatedVillain: Carl Anheuser. He makes some good points about [[WellIntentionedExtremist how to keep as many people alive as possible]], namely by not endangering the remaining human race by letting the rest of the refugees on board, [[ExactTimeToFailure racing against time]] and, if they survive that, the strain on their remaining resources. He doesn't even tell ''his own mother'' to board, [[WeWillHaveEuthanasiaInTheFuture though he has good reason]]: she's "89 years old, in a wheelchair, and has slight dementia. And I'm confident that she would want to go ready to meet her maker on her own terms."

* {{Glurge}}: Noah's anguished tearful moment with Jackson before he goes to repair the gears. It would be a nice heartwarming moment...if not for the fact that the kid (and the rest of the family) is not only not showing any sort of emotion after Gordon (his stepfather who saved everyone's lives twice and whose death he indirectly caused because he was hesitating in climbing inside despite his dad constantly telling him to do so) is killed but is holding his Dad up at a very time-sensitive moment and is risking millions of lives. Rather than sympathizing with the kid, many viewers wanted to punch him for [[spoiler:causing Tamara to drown]].

* TheScrappy: '''''Noah.''''' The kid is a dick to his father for the first act and does nothing but scream and complain for the entire disaster. He's also TheLoad and a borderline DamselScrappy. Not only that but he indirectly gets Gordon and Tamara killed and Tenzin injured.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Gordon/Jackson's family come off as this when Gordon dies. After being an arguably better father and husband than Jackson who bonds with Tamara and tries to bond with Jackson himself, and after saving pretty much everyone's lives twice to get to China, not only does he die a horrible death when he was ''so close'' to safety but his death is pretty much ignored by the remaining surviving family members. Granted, they were in a life and death situation (even though they caused it no less) and Jackson did ''try'' to save him but it makes them come off like assholes. Doesn't help that Gordon and Tamara died and Tenzin got injured because of their attempt to sneak into the Ark. Naturally, many viewers were pissed.

* MoralEventHorizon:
** Yuri leaving Tamara, Gordon, and the Curtis family for dead. This is despite the fact that Tamara was his girlfriend and that Gordon was one of the two pilots who saved his life. Although Yuri's saving his children [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice before falling at least 50 feet to his demise]]]] does show that he did have redeeming qualities, but not enough.
*** Furthermore, whoever gave out passes to the arks should be blamed, thus not making it entirely Yuri's fault.

** Jackson. Sure he's a BadassDriver in a limo but he arguably was a terrible father to his kids. Not only that but his attempt to sneak his family and a couple of others into the ark gets Gordon and Tamara killed, Tenzin injured and almost dooms everyone else onboard. And while he did feel horrible for not saving Gordon, he ''immediately'' forgets about him shortly afterwards.

* KarmicOverkill: Gordon [[spoiler:dies horribly while breaking into the Ark]] for no other reason than [[spoiler:getting in the way of Jackson uniting with his ex-wife and estranged children]]. And his great crime was... being a loving stepfather and good husband to Jackson's estranged family.

** The jazzy, ironic “It Ain’t The End of the World,” sung by Creator/BluMankuma and Creator/GeorgeSegal onboard the Genesis ''right after'' LA is wiped off the face of the Earth, certainly qualifies as well.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PqGc3qiXIs Master of Shadows]]" by Music/TwoStepsFromHell in the second trailer for the film. Take a listen.

* AlasPoorScrappy: Yuri's sons are both rich, spoiled brats like their father, but it's hard not to feel sorry for them when they both have to watch [[spoiler: him fall to his death after [[HeroicSacrifice throwing his two sons to safety.]]]]

* AngstWhatAngst: Despite the fact that he saved all their lives multiple times, and has arguably been a better father to them for longer than Jackson has, [[spoiler:Gordon's family don't so much as ''blink'' after he dies in an incredibly gruesome and pointless fashion.]] It kind of makes them [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic look like assholes.]]

* CargoShip: A humorous take, sounding a lot like a one night stand.
--> '''Sasha:''' (to Antonov) Come on, baby. Lift your big ass for Sasha!

** Gordon comes off as being an infinitely better father than Jackson ever was, saves the family on multiple occasions thanks to his borderline miraculous piloting skills, and [[spoiler: you can't help but feel sorry for the poor bastard when he is cruelly killed in a painful and undignified death literally ''meters'' from safety after a journey that took him halfway around the world.]]

* {{Glurge}}: Noah's anguished tearful moment with Jackson before he goes to repair the gears. It would be a nice heartwarming moment...if not for the fact that the kid (and the rest of the family) is not only not showing any sort of emotion after Gordon (his stepfather who saved everyone's lives twice and whose death he indirectly caused because he was hesitating in climbing inside despite his dad constantly telling him to do so) is killed but is holding his Dad up at a very time-sensitive moment and is risking millions of lives. Rather than sympathizing with the kid, many viewers wanted to punch him for [[spoiler: causing Tamara to drown]].
** No one will dispute the kid's general annoyance and uselessness. And yet, [[spoiler: he is the one who saw that one of the equipments jamming the gears is the cable.]]
** Not to mention [[spoiler:the very end of the movie, as summarized by {{Website/Cracked}}: The true victory was not surviving the world as we know it completely destroying itself, but of overcoming nocturnal enuresis]].

* HesJustHiding: It can be easy to hope this for a lot of the characters, especially Tamara (given that she just might have been able to hold her breath long enough for the water to recede) and Tony, Harry and everyone else on the Genesis [[spoiler: which did indeed survive in the alternate ending]].

* KarmicOverkill: Gordon [[spoiler: dies horribly while breaking into the Ark]] for no other reason than [[spoiler: getting in the way of Jackson uniting with his ex-wife and estranged children]]. And his great crime was...being a loving stepfather and good husband to Jackson's estranged family.

** "The Governor just said we're fine now." - ''"The guy's an actor! He's reading a script!"''

* {{Narm}}: Even by the low standards of Creator/RolandEmmerich disaster movies, "the neutrinos have mutated" is ''impressively'' nonsensical science.

** President Wilson, when the time comes to evacuate, is seen desperately praying in the White House chapel, and you’d be forgiven for thinking he’s drowning his sorrows with how heavily he’s hanging his head. He then tells Adrian that he is going to be the last president, clearly ashamed that the world is going to end on his watch even if he had no way to stop the disaster, and it’s end is his legacy. Wilson then tells Adrian he’s going to stay behind and not evacuate so he can address the nation and world one last time, purely to give his viewers the chance to try to find some peace before the end comes. After the evacuating personnel leave, Wilson’s address is cut off. Afterwards, as the ash falls from the Yellowstone caldera, Wilson loses any authority he had as he just tries to be a decent human being helping out wherever he can. And ultimately another earthquake kills most of the people in the vicinity, and Wilson dies seeing an aircraft carrier (the ''John F. Kennedy'') careening towards him in a tsunami, and quietly tells his late wife he’s on his way to be reunited with her.
** Harry seeing his partner, Tony’s death before him, and the entire cruise ship gets engulfed by the tsunami.
--> '''HARRRRYYY!!!!'''
** The deaths of Sasha and especially Gordon and Tamara. Jackson's futile attempts to help Gordon only to watch in horror as he dies doesn't help. Tamara’s last act is to help a little girl escape, but she’s left to drown alone in a quickly filling room, sobbing as she’s forced to accept her fate.
*** Speaking of Gordon the entire family forgets him almost immediately after his death which is sad considering that he saved their lives twice and was practically half the reason they got to China in the first place. Poor guy...

** Depending on how you view it. Sometimes the film itself can be a rough watch. As it can be scene after scene of innocent people getting killed by no fault of their own. The cruise ship scene in particular, hearing all those frightened people as the wave sinks the boat. It's rough.

* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler: Thomas, Gordon, Harry, Tony, and every single Russian character except for Yuri's brat sons and the Russian President.]]

** Minor detail, but still: the "Russian"[[note]]actually Ukranian[[/note]] plane used for the plan to fly to China is an Antonov AN-225. The only one of its kind ever built was destroyed as collateral damage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Well duh, it's a Creator/RolandEmmerich film. We dare you to watch the thrilling climax [[spoiler: in which a colossal ark careens through the flooded Himlayas]] and not enjoy it.

** The Russians. Among them, Sasha is probably the biggest for completely avoid any idiot tendencies and being a badass. Tamara for MsFanservice and also being a good person.

** Tony attempting to call his son.

** President Wilson, when the time comes to evacuate, is seen desperately praying in the White House chapel, and you’d be forgiven for thinking he’s drowning his sorrows with how heavily he’s hanging his head. He then tells Adrian that he is going to be the last president, clearly ashamed that the world is going to end on his watch even if he had no way to stop the disaster, and it’s end is his legacy. Wilson then tells Adrian he’s going to stay behind and not evacuate so he can address the nation and world one last time, purely to give his viewers the chance to try to find some peace before the end comes. After the evacuating personnel leave, Wilson’s address is cut off. Afterwards, as the ash falls from the Yellowstone caldera, Wilson loses any authority he had as he just tries to be a decent human being helping out wherever he can. And ultimately another earthquake kills most of the people in the vicinity, and Wilson dies seeing an aircraft carrier careening towards him in a tsunami, and quietly tells his late wife he’s on his way to be reunited with her.

* DesignatedHero: Jackson. Sure he's a BadassDriver in a limo but he arguably was a terrible father to his kids. Not only that but his attempt to sneak his family and a couple of others into the ark gets Gordon and Tamara killed, Tenzin injured and almost dooms everyone else onboard. And while he did feel horrible for not saving Gordon, he ''immediately'' forgets about him shortly afterwards.

** Anheuser is the movie’s main asshole, and he’s revealed to have not even tried to evacuate his own mother from the coming disaster. However, Anheuser justifies this by revealing that his mother is 89, wheelchair bound, and suffering from dementia, and he’s made the ruthless call that she’s not only not worth trying to spend the resources on saving her, but reasons that she probably won’t even know what hit her anyway. Even though he’s being cold, you can hear Anheuser choking up a bit, proving he’s not completely made of stone.
** President Wilson, when the time comes to evacuate, is seen desperately praying in the White House chapel, and you’d be forgiven for thinking he’s drowning his sorrows with how heavily he’s hanging his head. He then tells Adrian that he is going to be the last president, clearly ashamed that the world is going to end on his watch even if he had no way to stop the disaster, and it’s end is his legacy. Wilson then tells Adrian he’s going to stay behind and not evacuate so he can address the nation and world one last time, purely to give his viewers the chance to try to find some peace before the end comes. After the evacuating personnel leave, Wilson’s address is cut off as he tries to read a prayer, hammering in the tragedy of the situation in that prayer will save no one not on the Arks. Afterwards, as the ash falls from the Yellowstone caldera, Wilson loses any authority he had as he just tries to be a decent human being helping out wherever he can. And ultimately another earthquake kills most of the people in the vicinity, and Wilson dies seeing an aircraft carrier careening towards him in a tsunami, and quietly tells his late wife he’s on his way to be reunited with her.

* InformedWrongness: Adrian is outraged by Anhauser building the Ark for a long-term habitat instead of maximum immediate capacity. However, the movie never acknowledges that, while cramming people onto the Ark like sardines might save more lives at first, overcrowding would cause serious issues and be the perfect environment for disease to spread among the survivors, quite possibly killing more people than it saved.

* InformedWrongness: Adrian is outraged by Anhauser building the Ark for comfort instead of capacity. However, the movie never acknowledges that, while cramming people onto the Ark like sardines might save more lives at first, the overcrowding would cause serious social issues and be the perfect environment for disease to spread among the survivors, quite possibly killing more people than it saved.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: All televisions featured here are of the CRT variety. Whilst it's not too much of a stretch to imagine a convenience store with one — despite happening after analog television was discontinued — it seems unrealistic to believe that a state-of-the-art cruise liner would have a CRT television rather than a flat-screen television. Noah's hair is also a swooping fringe that comes straight out of the late 2000s. Granted, the film is called '''2012''' and was released just three years prior to the year in question, so it's pretty blatantly not going for a timeless feel.

* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler: Thomas, Gordon, Harry, Tony, and every single Russian character except for Yuri's brat sons and the Russian President.]]

* HesJustHiding: it can be easy to hope this for a lot of the characters, especially Tamara (given that she just might have been able to hold her breath long enough for the water to recede) and Tony, Harry and everyone else on the Genesis [[spoiler: which did indeed survive in the alternate ending]].

** The deaths of Sasha and especially Gordon and Tamara. Jackson's futile attempts to help Gordon only to watch in horror as he dies doesn't help.

** Yuri's death. Despite all he did and how much you probably wanted him to be punished, the fact he was just trying save his kids when he finally dies can make it less of a [[AssholeVictim satisfying moment]], and more of a AlasPoorVillain moment.