A bit half-baked, but I liked it

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2007)

End of the world movies these days seem to be dime-a-dozen, like Die Hard-esquire action flicks were years ago, and like PG-13 horror remakes sadly seem to be these days. This is another one of them, a prolific, epic film that tries as hard as it can to be intelligent and gripping. It wants to impress you with knowledge, special effects, and a very moving, risky, adventurous plot. But is it worth all that if your plot turns out half baked and unfinished? That's the deal with The Day After Tomorrow---there are the pieces of a really great thriller/action/post-apocalyptic film here, but nobody bothered to put them together.
For instance, a plot involving our main character's wife and a young disabled boy whom she treats in the hospital where she works. This would've likely been a pretty good plot element, and it was touching from what little we saw, but nobody bothered to expand on it and make it an actual part of the story. It was just a tidbit on the side, barely even an element of the plot at all. The romance elements as well were there, just not expanded upon enough. In fact, most of the characters in general weren't as fleshed out as they could've been. Expanding upon their rather shallow exteriors could've made for a world-class movie, but alas that was not to be. The ending as well, felt very hollow, like they just had to end it to meet a deadline. It wasn't a bad ending, but it could've been so much more. And thus, we're left with a movie that feels like they didn't work as hard as they could've. This is a movie that tried to fit in elements from adventure films, a bit of romance, and of course some current world issues into one film, which apparently was too short to house all of it. All of these things just crush the film with their weight. Expanding the running length with a more fleshed out plot and characters would've benefited this, but it's entertaining nonetheless.
It's not without it's merits, though, for this is still worthy of an 8/10. This is a movie with big money behind it, and of course all of the visuals are stunning, beautiful, yet absolutely devastating and terrible, chaotic. All of the special effects here were orchestrated perfectly, and thus this is a film best viewed on a large screen with surround-sound speakers. Tidal waves, tornadoes, snowstorms, and more, all in their whole, destructive forms. That's the best thing about this one, I'd say, the special effects. Too bad they sacrificed plot elements for it. Recommended.