Some great destruction scenes but not much else

Rating: 5/10 (24 January 2005)

The Day After Tomorrow is entertaining during the first half of the film but by the second half of the movie it starts to drag. Global warming and the greenhouse effect have devastating effects on the earth when a series of hurricanes, tornadoes and tidal waves kick off a second Ice Age. Professor Adrian Hall (Quaid), a leading scientist studying weather patterns, must try to save the world as well as find his son (Gyllenhaal) who was in New York City when it was struck by the sudden weather catastrophe. This type of movie has three factors that it needs to have if it wants a wider audience. First, Are the destruction scenes thrilling? Judging by the trailer alone you can see that they are. Second, Is the science sound? In this case it isn't as global warming is a big issue and making a joke out of it will upset some people and turn them away. And third is the dialog good or will you laugh out at some of the scenes? Well there are some unintentional funny moments when they are trying to be serious but it sounds too stupid and its hard to take seriously. If you want the last two factors in this film then I recommend you don't watch it, however if the destruction scenes are good enough for you then its worth it. Roland Emmerich has a good eye for destruction and he makes this movie very action packed but left out everything else. The cast is good for the most part with the best being Dennis Quaid who really made up for The Alamo and does a good job in his role. Jake Gyllenhaal was good and I am kind of surprised he isn't more popular in Hollywood since he is a very good actor. Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward and Ian Holm all play their roles fine and try their best with a unrealistic plot. The first half of the movie is great with tons of action and with a lot of great scenes like the tornadoes in LA, though I think they should have destroyed another city. The second half starts getting boring and there's not much action also it has a very cheesy ending. Rating 6/10 it was a decent destruction flick and it was very entertaining in the beginning but loses steam by the end.