3 Stars Out Of 5

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2004)

*-Catch it on TV **-Worth a Rental ***-Buy it Used/On Sale ****-Buy it New/Top Dollar *****-Worthy of a Blind Buy
Seeing "The Day After Tomorrow" got me thinking about how important it is to keep our environment clean and to be cautious about the affects of global warming. To be completely honest with you, global warming was the last thing on my mind while watching the latest big budget disaster flick from Roland Emmerich. I was more focused on trying to figure out why so many heroes in movies are named Jack. I was a little too busy suspending my disbelief and trying to ignore cliché after cliché. Once I successfully ignored the terrible script and horrid predictability of the movie I found myself enjoying the eye candy.
The movie's plot is pretty straight forward. Mother nature is p***ed at us, I guess for that hole in the ozone layer and decides to unleash all hell and start the next ice age. There are major weather disasters all over the world spanning from tornados to hail, tidal waves and freezing hurricanes. In the midst of all this disaster, a family is torn apart. The main story focuses on the relationship, or lack thereof, between paleoclimatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) and his son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal). Sam is a genius who is on some academic team, which he joined because he is in love with a girl who takes the team seriously. The team is in New York City for a competition and you can pretty much guess what happens after that.
The acting was better than I expected. Granted, I wasn't expecting much. There are a few light hearted jokes planted here and there throughout the movie for comic relief. It works. I admit I was laughing whenever Jason, the young scientist protege of Jack, was hitting on Tamlyn Tomita's character. Jack's wife's storyline is insignificant and hard to care about. Lucy Hall was overall a pointless character and had no real purpose. However, if the plot line involving her had been dropped it would not have improved the story at all. The special effects are breathtaking, as expected. There are a few instances where they are a little much but they were few and far between.
Overall the only reason to see "The Day After Tomorrow" is the special effects. Even though a few sequences are clearly CGI, they are still good enough to merit this movie ***. It will go down as a guilty pleasure of mine and I will more than likely add it to my DVD collection. But I won't be in a hurry to buy it and I will only watch it when I am bored and don't feel like thinking.