Highly exciting and instantly forgettable

Rating: 7/10 (2 June 2004)

Roland Emmerich's The Day after Tomorrow is a surprisingly enjoyable disaster movie romp. Global warming and polar ice cap melting cause a cataclysmic sudden change in global climate. Tornados, tidal waves, and temperatures that plummet ten degrees per second mete out chaos worldwide. This allows for some truly spectacular and breathtaking visual effects. If this is your cup of tea, then make sure you see it on the biggest screen possible with the best sound systems. This is a true summer blockbuster  highly exciting, and instantly forgettable.
Dennis Quiad is the government scientist saying `I told you so' to a Dick Cheneyesque vice president, but as disaster strikes, he undertakes a personal quest to rescue his teenage son, who is trapped in a frozen over New York. Plotwise, nothing particularly profound happens, but what is worth noting is the political, rather than meteorological climate this film reflects.
For a start, the afore-mentioned vice President's character is clearly a metaphor for the current Bush/Cheney administration who failed to sign the Koyoto accord, infuriating environmentalists and many other politicians worldwide. The science of the film may be bunk (and who cares for goodness sake), but the message is clearly a wrap on the knuckles for the US, and for the most part, takes a slightly subversive tone.
Elsewhere, the satire is painted in broad brushstrokes, such as US refugees illegally crossing the Rio Grande to get into Mexico in an attempt to escape the deadly climate. Another interesting comparison to make is between the set of `token Brit characters' in Independence Day (another Emmerich epic) and this film. The former, pre-9/11 Brit characters were barely given a line, much less a personality. However, since we live in post-9/11 `Brits-are-friends-who-help-us-invade-Middle-Eastern-countries' times, the characters contained herein (played by the likes of Ian Holm) are given more to do, funnier lines, and attempts are made to make you care about them before they obligingly perish in true stiff upper lip style.
In the end though, The Day after Tomorrow doesn't have anything terribly profound to say about environmentalism or politics. It's just big, loud, and all-the better for it.