It's like "Independence Day"...except not at all.

Rating: 5/10 (31 May 2004)

** Warning! Major spoilers appear in the clearly marked paragraph!**
Eight years ago, director Roland Emmerich exploded onto the mainstream movie scene with the summer blockbuster "Independence Day," starring Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum. Now four years after releasing The Patriot, Emmerich returns with "The Day After Tomorrow," a flick about what might happen if global warming were to melt the polar ice cap. The similarities to "ID4" are striking, but unfortunately "DaT" fails to replicate the askance, humorous attitude that flowed through "ID4," and that in turn results in a lesser movie.
As in most of Emmerich's work, the story here is about survival, as individuals, groups, a society, and one family in particular. Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is a climatologist who resides in D.C. and suspects the worst. His 17-year old son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) has traveled to New York City, which happens to be right in the line of a major storm. As global warming sets a new Ice Age in motion, we follow their exploits: Sam as he simply tries to survive, and Jack as he determines what is going on and how he can save Sam. Throw in a attractive girl (Emmy Rossum) for Sam and an ex-wife for Jack, and you have all the makings of a traditional summer blockbuster.
Which is exactly what you will get. There are no real surprises anywhere in the movie, not even those of the foreseen variety. Everything proceeds precisely as expected during the previous five minutes. That doesn't necessarily detract from the movie, but it does prevent the flick from climbing past the level of summertainment.
Perhaps more than anything, "DaT" is trapped in a cage of its own making, thanks to the plot, writing, and casting. "ID4" succeeded because of its very good blend of action and humor, which was facilitated by the subject matter. An alien invasion is much easier to make light of than apocalyptic weather. With that handicap, the onus falls on the script, which is average at its best and unintentionally comedic at its worst. That's even with the on-set rewrites that Gyllenhaal demanded due to corny dialogue. The writing simply neglected the development of characters beyond stock personalities and also contained little humor outside of the occasional throw-away lines.

Part of the latter complaint can be pinned on the a combination of casting and acting. Smith and Goldblum made "ID4" with their humor, much of which was ad-libbed or rewritten with their input. None of that light-hearted nature is present in "DaT." Place a little blame on the cast, but place as much on the script and casting. Believe it or not, choosing Will Smith for "ID4" was a big gamble at the time, but it worked out in a grand way. The choices of actors in DaT are much safer. With the possible exception of Gyllenhaal, no one plays an unusual part or adds anything fresh or dynamic to the roles.
Gyllenhaal combines the ennui of his "Good Girl" character with the intelligence of his part in "October Sky" to advance a stock character a step above what most actors would. While maintaining a level head, his Sam seems to appreciate the absurdity of what is happening. Maybe that's because Gyllenhaal was in a congruent situation himself. Aside from him, no one performs poorly, but no one stands out either. Quaid and Ward step into more fatherly/motherly roles, but ones without the meat of their parts in "The Rookie" or "The Fugitive." They're good, but we've seen them better. The rest of the cast ranges from quite solid (Ian Holm, in a role that strangely makes him disappear in a different way) to simply adequate (everyone else).

But the movie wasn't all bad. Although I sense that some of the scientific aspects of "DaT" were awry, I can't be certain and therefore was not bothered by them. The good news is that the scripted events allow for excellent special effects. These are the visuals that I like. Explosions and battles are one thing, because those are "real", in that they happen, and could be staged if the cost were not prohibitive. But the events of "DaT" could not be staged and will likely never occur. That's what makes them so enjoyable, much like "ID4," in which other landmark buildings are destroyed. Having been to New York City, seeing waves careen through city blocks was quite intriguing to me in a twisted sort of way. Likewise I'm sure for anyone who has visited Los Angeles or any of the other decimated locations. The visual effects are done very well, perhaps even (dare I say it so early) Oscar-worthy (gasp). We have never seen anything like that before, and Emmerich's vision, for which he is to be commended, combines with the stellar work of effects houses, evokes thrills and chills with every gust of wind and crash of wave. These visuals alone are just about worth a ticket, and because of them I don't feel as though I wasted my money. That's about as high a compliment as can be paid.
SKIP THE NEXT PARAGRAPH TO AVOID SPOILERS!
Allow me to rant for a minute. Why are the wolves in the movie at all?? There was enough drama and action involving the kids racing the storm back to the library. The wolves were completely pointless, and not in the way that Jack's wife was unnecessary. The wolves were something so random that a collective Huh? went up in the theater when they reappeared. The survivors could have at least killed and eaten one. I think I'll pretend that part didn't even exist. As for Jack's wife, why was she in the movie? This is not a knock on Ward at all; she was fine. But call Jack a single parent, cut her scenes out, and you have a shorter, cleaner movie that would no doubt grip the audience better thanks to less melodrama. That's enough for now...

END SPOILERS
When I first saw the original trailer for "The Day After Tomorrow" last fall, I was psyched to see the film. The trailer explained that the Earth underwent a climate shift, causing utter calamity. That's it. Nothing more. A perfect trailer. Unfortunately, the final product doesn't live up to that potential, fading instead into a blase family-survival picture, a by-the-numbers movie that features the spectacular meteorological destruction of much of the planet. At best, DaT is decent mindless entertainment, fodder for those who enjoy poking fun at cinematic inadequacies.
Bottom Line: Another summer popcorn movie. Enjoyable for the visual effects, but definitely not a must-see. 5/10.