The Day After Tomorrow

Rating: 7/10 (22 May 2006)

Ronald Emmerich returns after a 4 year hiatus to bring us his next disaster movie, The Day After Tomorrow, a CGI marvel but, like his other films, too clichéd and thin to be taken seriously enough. Now we all know that films such as Independence Day (1996) and Godzilla (1998) aren't designed to be taken seriously  they are the ultimate in "popcorn" movies  but audiences are generally not content with a blockbuster anymore unless it shows a little character, or a little plot to pad the film out a bit. Sadly, this is exactly what The Day After Tomorrow lacks.
The film starts with Dennis Quaid trying to persuade the world that, unless kept in check, global warming will make the polar ice caps melt and the world would be struck by "superstorms" all over. This, needless to say, would be bad. He says it could happen as soon as in 100 years, except he miscalculated somewhat - it'll actually happen in a few days. Just before it all starts his slightly estranged son (Jake Gyllenhaal) flies to New York for a school competition where, unbeknownst to him, is where the centre of one of these superstorms will end up. Then the storms start, and after a quick "up yours!" and a "told you so!" to the American government, Quaid sets off to New York to get his son out of there. Meanwhile, his son is trapped in the New York Public Library, trying to stay alive long enough for his dad to reach him.
And that's it  the plot in, just about, it's entirety. I've summed it up in 150 words. Yet Emmerich has made a 2 hour film stretching this story as far as possible. It's not exactly a bad story or script, and certainly not as clichéd as Independence Day (although it does have its moments, especially where some wolves escape from their cages  guess when they turn up? Just as Jake Gyllenhaal leaves the library and is completely defenceless, of course...), it's just that there's not enough story/plot to fill the time. Of course, this is where the special effects come in, and they certainly do hit you like a tornado hitting LA (wait a sec). There are 3 major set pieces for these effects: the aforementioned LA tornadoes, the flooding of New York, and then the "superfreeze" which we see affect both New York and England. And what special effects they are! They may not always be photorealistic, but they are close enough to the real thing to begin worrying when it starts to rain when you leave the cinema. The film has set a new standard for disaster movie effects, and Emmerich has once again proved that he is more than capable of destroying the world whenever he wants to, and in any way he wants to. He is definitely more confident in his destruction than in his characterisation scenes, which to be honest feel heavy and forced, although all the actors do pull off a good job with the script they are given.
The best part for me was actually what was lacking  a single man who could save the day. Not even Bill Pullman or Bruce Willis can stop this apocalypse, and this is shown when Dennis Quaid draws a line through the middle of a map of the USA and tells the government quite plainly that no one north of that line (which includes New York) can be saved, and that every one else must be evacuated south, towards Mexico. The film does have an optimistic ending (we see lots of New Yorkers coming out of the buildings they took refuge in when the rescue helicopters arrive), but the implied off-screen death toll is catastrophic, which makes this film feel a tad more real than Emmerich's others, as if this really could happen. The effects are fantastic, the plot spread too thin, but it is still a worthwhile piece of entertainment, and recommended to be seen, even if only once.
Rated: 7.5/10
More reviews at: http://www.thelazylounge.net