Flawed and clichéd, but a mostly suspenseful and visually pleasing action adventure

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2010)

I was in my late teens when this polarizing action blockbuster came into theatres, and don't remember hearing anything about it at the time. "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow", the "South Park" episode which parodies this film, was made the following year, and I remember seeing that when it first aired in Canada, but it would still be several years before I would actually see the Roland Emmerich film. In 2008, I saw two other movies from Emmerich, which were "The Patriot" and "10,000 BC", and couldn't say much positive about either of those. Before finally watching "The Day After Tomorrow" (which came in between those other two), I knew it wasn't generally regarded as a masterpiece, but then I found that it wasn't so bad.
Jack Hall is a paleoclimatologist who is in Antarctica with two colleagues, drilling ice cores, when a chunk of ice the size of Rhode Island breaks off! After this expedition, he speaks at a United Nations conference about this evidence of global warming, and how it could lead to an ice age in around 100 to 1000 years if pollution continues, but his theory is dismissed. However, after this, significant drops in temperature are soon discovered in different parts of the world, and more than one weather-related disaster takes place! It turns out that Jack's theory was correct, only it is happening a LOT sooner than he imagined! The paleoclimatologist's son, Sam, has gone to New York with some friends to participate in a scholastic competition. He finds himself stuck in the city as it floods and then freezes over! Risking his life, Jack bravely sets out with two colleagues to try and get to New York to rescue his son!
This film begins with the Antarctic expedition, and this part can be a little shaky, but it does get pretty exciting when the ice breaks. There are some fairly dull parts of the film, and while I watched it, it sometimes felt like I had seen it before. Yes, it does have its share of clichés, which it has often been criticized for. I think I had previously seen movies with characters a lot like the ones here (or at least some of them) facing natural disasters, and these weren't the only familiar elements I found. However, I eventually found that "The Day After Tomorrow" becomes very adrenaline-inducing, and is basically like that for the remainder of the film, with the New York flood, Sam Hall trying to talk to his father on the phone as the flood waters in the building rise, among other things Sam, his friends, and others experience while stuck in the city. Jack on his very rough trip to New York to save his son also leads to a lot of excitement, and viewers could easily admire this character for what he does. There may not be too many cast highlights, but Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal stand out as the father and son respectively, and Ian Holm is also good as Professor Terry Rapson. I also can't forget to mention how great the visuals can be!
Not only has this particular sci-fi action movie been criticized in terms of quality, it has also been criticized for being very scientifically inaccurate. I'm no scientist, but I can certainly believe that this movie is extremely inaccurate, even absurd, in that regard. I've learned a lot about pollution in my life, but if "The Day After Tomorrow" was trying to make me worry about it more, it failed. However, if it also tries to entertain, well, it clearly has failed at that to a lot of people, but not to me. It's certainly not the most amazing film ever made, nor is it the most original, but despite all the criticism, I personally think most of this polarizing Roland Emmerich film is pretty good, even if many people might wonder how I could possibly think that. So, I certainly don't recommend you watch this movie expecting it to be an amazing adventure like you've never seen before, but if you're a sucker for adrenaline-pumping action, like me, then you MIGHT find enough of that here to make it worthwhile.