could have been a lot more

Rating: 6/10 (7 January 2006)

The earth's climate is change, at a phenomenal rate. From effects of global warming, the earth is unable to take this ever increasing disaster. The counter effect of the global warming is a climate shift to the next ice age. Natural disasters are occurring one after the other; tornadoes, hail storms, relentless rain, all growing in magnitude. Stuck in the middle of it is Jack, who had predicted this change of weather. In New York is Jack's son Sam, on a school trip. Stuck in New York after a giant wave flooded the city, Jack is determined to get Sam out before the city falls to the impending storm.
The day after tomorrow is an interesting look at the current weather trends that have been predicted by scientist. At its core there is the message that we have to start looking after our earth or this could be our fate of the future, and it does present this well. The downfall though is that this doesn't elevate itself from the standard disaster film. It has all the clichÃ©d characters and events; iconic monuments being destroyed. The dramatic scenes are over done with no help from the over acting cast. Dennis Quaid is no stranger to over acting, being the main culprit. Jacke Gyllenhaal gives the only good performance, though nowhere near his best.
Though this is not an exercise of brilliant acting, its the spectacle of the disasters that take center frame, and they are outstanding. The tornadoes ripping through Los Angelas, the hail storm in Japan, the gigantic wave flooding New York and the eye of the storm instantly freezing everything are amazingly captured by Roland Emmerich. They are so captivating and wonderfully done with the special effects. But though the disaster side of Day after Tomorrow are great, they don't care the slack of the human elements and the plot holes of the story.
It isn't the best disaster movie, though it's no where near the worst. It's an interesting look at what may happen.