Sometimes... special effects ARE enough!

Rating: 8/10 (2 June 2004)

No spoilers, the weather's gone haywire, and as Twain put it "everyone complains about the weather but nobody ever does anything about it." The events of "The Day After Tomorrow" are exciting, and quite obviously too big for anyone to "fix," so now what. And that's where the film attempts to hold your attention for slightly more than 2 hours. If you remember to turn on your suspension of belief, you will have a very entertaining time. Is it scientific? I-I-I dunno, it shouldn't get in the way of your enjoying the movie. The thinking of the characters are another matter entirely, but in the hope of "no spoilers," I'll leave that alone.
The acting is in some spots excellent, Quaid, Ward and Holm shine... others not so much. Yes, YES it's loaded with cliche', and the script falters in those details, but I would dare say that the starring role is that of the special effects themselves, and the weather effects in particular never fail to satisfy. Viewers in my audience actually squirmed in there seats as the various meteorological catastrophes unfolded.
Do people die unnecessarily? Do they make obviously stupid decisions that bring about their own demise? Well, isn't that the very definition of cliche in a disaster movie? One thing that caught this viewers attention. The script at one point seems to make a confusing/non-statement about belief in God... and a half stab at religion. It was the most pointless moment in the film, and considering the US audience (and the runaway success of "The Passion...") perhaps it would have been better to leave that sequence on the cutting room floor.
In the end, the lead performer, aka, the visual effects team, delivers the goods. With the exception of one creature effect, their performance is simply the new (forgive the pun) high-watermark for all weather effects. Their contribution dragged what would have ordinarily been only a 5 up to 8 on a scale of 1-10.