Don't worry too much about the message in Emmerich's latest - just enjoy.

Rating: Null/10 (1 July 2004)

Rating: *** (out of *****)
Earth is under attack - from its own climate. Excessive global warming is set to bring about the next Ice Age, something that scientist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) suspects long before anyone else. Of course (as is often the case in Hollywood disaster films) few heed his warnings, and, sooner than expected, tornadoes and floods are destroying the major cities in the north of America. Hall has the additional worry of trying to rescue his son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) who happens to be in New York when the disaster occurs.
As if Independence Day wasn't enough, Roland Emmerich now wants destruction on a new, more realistic (hang on, did I just say "realistic"?) level. Funnily enough, he succeeds. If you liked ID4, you'll definitely like this.
I think it's best to compare The Day After Tomorrow with ID4. The similarities are there, alright: there's the Big Presidential Speech, the "important" characters who don't believe our heroes when they should, and "touching" subplots involving kids. Then again, "It's the End of the World as we Know It" is nowhere to be heard. But at the end of this, you'll definitely feel fine.
To be fair to Emmerich, he does touch on a clear warning about global warming. Yet despite his attempt to convey a serious message, you can never picture him outside the popcorn genre. And in every possible way, this is a Roland Emmerich film. But it succeeds better than his other disaster efforts, though, the reasons being less characters (just look at ID4's bloated cast for comparison), greater emotional restraint and a more frightening premise. I'm not even going to analyse the special effects, because you'll know how good they are from either the trailers or the standard Emmerich set in his previous disaster films.
It helps that he has chosen solid actors like Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm and relative newcomer Emmy Rossum. (I could've sworn I saw a young Norah Jones when I looked at her - interestingly, we'll see how she fares as a singer when the film version of The Phantom of the Opera is released in the near future.)
Forget the factual errors, blatant conveniences, corny ending, bad dialogue, product placement overload and attempts at clever pseudo-science. The Day After Tomorrow is a genuinely thrilling popcorn film, even if it is unremarkable and shamelessly manipulative. One that's best enjoyed when you don't want to think.