Silly, pretentious nonsense. However well intentioned

Rating: 7/10 (4 October 2007)

Roland Emmerich must really hate the world. Otherwise he wouldn't keep destroying it. He had aliens shoot the hell out of it in Independence Day. Godzilla stomped on it. And now in The Day After Tomorrow, Mother Nature trashes it.
I must admit to not being a particularly huge fan of Roland Emmerich. His films exist only as action spectacles, with a thin semblance of plot connecting each loud setpiece together, populated by stock characters with easily predictable arcs and motivations.
Independence Day may have been the top money-maker of 1996, and attracted a wealth of A-list actors, but all the criticisms I mentioned above apply. And they apply to The Day After Tomorrow too.
But, I think TDAT is a slightly better film. Don't get me wrong, I know it's cheesy. Some of the dialogue is unintentionally laugh out loud funny, and the science is completely off the charts. But what allows the film to transcend the silliness is its theme of global warming. How we are slowly destroying our own home.
There were times during TDAT I felt like I was watching a ballooned up documentary on the dangers of environmental hazards. But its nice to see a well budgeted flick with something profound to say in this day and age. Even if it hammers its message across to do it.
Years of consuming vital fuels and polluting the atmosphere are finally beginning to take they're toll. Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), one of the world's foremost climatologists leads an expedition to the Antarctic to measure climate shifts. But Jack and his team barely escape with their lives when the ice inexplicably breaks apart.
Jack addresses his concerns to the Vice President that if we don't stop squandering our natural resources, there will be consequences. And he's proved right not long after when weather patterns all around the world go crazy. Tornadoes wreck LA (including the Hollywood sign), tidal waves flood New York, and worst of all, the world is about ready to enter a new Ice Age. As freezing winter closes in, Jack and a number of others have to ride out the storm until it blows over.
As long as you're prepared to ignore the absurd science, clichéd situations and really quite laughable dialogue, you may actually have a fun time during The Day After Tomorrow.
Like Independence Day, the film chooses to focus on a select number of people weathering (OK, bad pun!) the insurmountable odds in their own way.
So we have Dennis Quaid trying to get to New York on foot from Washington to reunite with his estranged son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), who's trapped in a frozen NY library with potential love interest Laura (Emmy Rossum).
Quaid's wife, Dr Lucy Hall (Sela Ward) stays by the side of (wait for it!), a dying cancer patient.
And meteorologist Professor Terry Rapson (Ian Holm) is trapped in a weather station with two colleagues, resigned to their fates that they will never see another sunrise.
Roland Emmerich does have a rather annoying habit of sketching his characters in easily guessable scenarios, but the good news is he's polished his act in the interim since Independence Day. There are still a few of the usual faults that crop up in just about every film he gets his hands on, but TDAT is still more enjoyable than most of his efforts.
Credit is due to the cast, who give more than the film deserves. Dennis Quaid is good as always, giving conviction to the clichéd role of the inattentive father. Although I thought Sela Ward was wasted in a very thankless storyline. An actress of her talents should have been allowed to contribute more to the story.
Jake Gyllenhaal is OK but he's been better in other films. What he needs is a sharp script and taut direction to bring out his natural strengths as an actor. Films like Donnie Darko and October Sky. TDAT tends to place him in a generic subplot with no real opportunity to flex his acting muscles.
One bright spot to Sam's story is the actress who plays his love interest, Emmy Rossum. She's quite an appealing actress with a beautifully expressive face. She makes Laura a perfectly rounded, intensely watchable character. I'll be looking out for Emmy Rossum in films in the future.
And Ian Holm does what he can with the limited screen time he's given. He's not provided with much of a part to play, but he's a good enough actor to flesh out his role with warmth and humour, without the slightest bit of pretension.
Still, Emmerich can't resist including one-dimensional stock characters. Like the bureaucratic VP who doesn't see sense when it could have made a difference. One thing that is surprising about Roland Emmerich is he's German with an almost absolute reverence for the good old US of A. The Americans in ID4 almost single-handedly fought off the alien invaders, defending the flag, the pie and the 4th of July.
Interestingly, Emmerich seems to have modified his views since then. The Americans no longer seem as squeaky clean in TDAT. Dennis Quaid pointedly brings up the Kyoto Accords, and there's a wonderfully amusing moment when the Americans become illegal immigrants in Mexico, because its warmer. There may be hope for Emmerich yet.
The special effects are just as good as you'd expect. The sight of tornadoes shredding the Hollywood sign is awesome. As is a frozen solid Statue of Liberty. But the way it all passes over in a matter of days is startling in its narrative silliness.
Still, The Day After Tomorrow is a worthwhile film. It has many glaring faults and some unbelievable acts of heroism, but it is one of Roland Emmerich's better films, it has a few gentle surprises, superb FX, and it's that rare thing. A Hollywood blockbuster with something to say.