A Warning from a surprising corner

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2004)

SPOILERS HEREIN
Yes,Roland Emmerich is criticizing the American Government among others in THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW,his first good disaster movie after the blockbuster INDEPENDENCE DAY.But his mood has changed in this period,while he was making a highly patriotic film with INDEPENDENCE DAY(but highly enjoyable)THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW is quite the opposite.Emmerich uses in some way the same story line as of INDEPENDENCE DAY.That means:first the threat,then the discovery by scientists,then the attack of the threat and then the heroism of "Normal" people.
The movie has got two typical shots at the opening and at the end.The opening credits give a great helicopter ride over the icy Northpole after which an American flag enters the image.The movie ends with a shot of a frozen,but still standing Statue of Liberty and then a shot of a half frozen Planet Earth.So,both the opening and the end have got a shot of a true American symbol and a shot of the beauty of Mother Nature.
The movie itself is very enjoyable(although not as fun as INDEPENDENCE DAY,I like Aliens more as an enemy)and the effects are great.The fact that the story makes no sense is not important,people who complain about that should not go to these kind of movies.
Of course the acting is bad(except for Ian Holm),but again,that's not the issue here.It's all about the special effects and the messages in the movie.
First the effects:The flooding of New York is the greatest scene of the movie,finally someone who's got the guts to create a disaster scene in The Big Apple.It has always struck me that the general obsession of fear and patriotism was more important to other Americans than to New Yorkers,they went on with their lives.They had to. The tornadoes is also very cool,but tends to become something like "Been there,Done That",I mean we have Jan de Bont's TWISTER already.The destruction of the Hollywood sign was very funny though. The freezing of the building in New York is less spectacular but also impressive,as are the big shots of the city and the Planet as a whole.Emmerich uses the familiar tactic of close ups of faces in awe,after which the camera gets high to show us what the actors see.
The messages in the movie are very clear.Emmerich tells us that we are going in the wrong direction.The fact that the American government as well as some other super powers are ignoring the Kyoto treaty is criticized,as is the complete humiliation and oblivion of the Third World and of course the USA-Mexico conflict considering immigration.I've seen documentaries about this border problem and it's really heartbreaking when you see Mexican families torn apart and only separated by a big fence(Ken Loach addresses this problem in his film BREAD AND ROSES).
But all in all,it's all about the effects and they are great.Cause Emmerich can claim what he want,but in the making of this movie several trees from the rain forest and other natural sources were attacked to make this project possible. 8/10