Yet another Hollywood disaster film!

Rating: 3/10 (24 January 2005)

This movie begins by showing the growing awareness of global warming and the urgency of responding to the effects it is causing, as scientists working in the Arctic Circle witness a massive piece of ice 'the size of Rhode Island' break away from the polar cap. This latest report is presented to The Whitehouse and recent changes in weather compared to those which led to the first ice-age millions of years ago. The scientists' attempt to gain support for action to be taken in an effort to reverse this damage done to the Earth's atmosphere falls well short of that which is required as they have predicted 'ice-age' like conditions occurring in the next hundreds or thousands of years. The risk is not seen as an immediate threat, however the president proposes a plan of action to the people of North America so that their grandchildrens' children will have a better chance of survival. Events speed up as around the world extreme weather conditions are reported and the main character, the scientist who provided the initial estimate, is forced to admit that he was wrong and it now appears that the next ice-age is upon them. The movie attempts to turn into a disaster film at this point, but the overdone effects and computer imagery fail to produce a realistic portrayal of tsunamis and tornadoes. Probably the only scenes which I could honestly believe possible were the ones where Japan was bombarded with softball sized hailstones. While the main idea behind this movie was great and definitely very topical, the script has been written to a Hollywood formula and crisis points occur purely to add a complication to the story rather than as a believable situation where the characters overcome obstacles. The dialogue was predictable and I did not think much effort had gone into the various motivational speeches and emotional exchanges  in fact, at several key vocal points where the audience should have felt pain, shock or admiration, I found myself laughing at how ridiculous and forced the words sounded. Several of the main characters were poorly cast and I had difficulty in taking the actors/actresses seriously in their roles. Their overdone acting would have been more appropriate in a soap opera than in a tragic film aiming to demonstrate how ordinary people react in a crisis. I was disappointed with the ending as nothing was resolved. The people of this world had not acted in any way to bring about the sudden change back in weather and I still cannot understand why the climate's conditions eased in this instance when they had previously destroyed the planet. The director has created a politically correct length of film with the very direct lesson that we need to take 'caring for the environment' more seriously, however if he had marketed it as the 'general public documentary' which it is, my guess is that no-one would have gone to see it. Watch 'The Day After Tomorrow' if you are after 'light' entertainment based closely around the formula of movies such as Independence Day and Godzilla, but I would not recommend it to those viewers who desire a clever, well-made film.