2012 the latest apocalyptic film directed by Roland Emmerich from Independence Day and The Day after Tomorrow hits theaters Friday getting a wave of mixed reviews.

The film's name refers to the year 2012 when in the winter solstice the Mayas predicted the world will meet its catastrophic end. It stars John Cusack, Oliver Platt and Amanda Peet.

As of now the film's trailer has been watched over 9 million times on YouTube.

Critics have fit the movie among the best of its genre, but generally speaking, the film's reviews are split. 2012 is ranked with only 36 percent of positive reviews, according to aggregation site Rottentomatoes.com.

Some critics commend the film's special effects and its effective delivery for a disaster-movie.

This is fun. 2012 delivers what it promises, and since no sentient being will buy a ticket expecting anything else, it will be, for its audiences, one of the most satisfactory films of the year, noted film critic Rogert Ebert from the Chicago Sun Times.

Negative critics include that the film is predictable, money-draining (made with a reportedly $250 million budget), time-wasting (2 hours 38 minutes) and cynical, among others.

This oafish epic about the End of Days -- as predicted by the Mayan calendar -- operates in a dead zone roughly equidistant between parody and idiocy, wrote Joe Morgenstern with the Wall Street Journal.

2012 opens in theaters today. It is rated PG-13. Watch the trailer below: