The Earth Dies

Rating: 7/10 (30 May 2004)

So, we've got ourselves a big-budget disaster flick as the backdrop of a stereotypical drama and a very blunt environmental call to arms. You're going to get outraged if you went in looking for perfection, but you've read the reviews and you know this guy's previous work - you just wanna see New York crushed by a tidal wave. And that's what you get, enormous, very-well-done special effects and a so-so story that we've all seen before about a girl loved by a guy who doesn't spend much time with his dad.
Where the film really fails is the part about environmental awareness and the laughably cold-hearted vice president/Dick Cheney look-alike. There's this enormous, groan-inducing "I-told-you-so" vibe running throughout the movie, and the final speech had my pupils glued to my eyebrows, but this subtext only comes up occasionally between scenes of hail crushing citizens of Tokyo and a multiple climate chase scenes.
That drama part is stereotypical out the wazoo, but I hope nobody came into the theater seriously expecting to see a unique or surprising look at post-apocalyptic teen romance. Yes, the movie is severely predictable, with only the occasional minor surprise... but you know you ain't paying for a mystery. You're paying for entertainment. Does it come through? Yeah, it's good enough for an "event" film. Not great, not spectacular, but you couldn't really go through summer without seeing at least one major city destroyed, could you?