Plays well to the audience

Rating: 9/10 (28 May 2004)

First of all, let's get the politics and the science out of the way... This is a movie - designed first and foremost to sell tickets and entertain folks. If it happens to leave some people thinking serious thoughts, that's a by-product. Many people are reviewing this film based on their perceptions of its perceived political agenda vis-a-vis their own. Others are reviewing it based on scientific accuracy. Both approaches miss the point.
The basic science underlying this film is solid. The extrapolation and time compression needed to compress processes with time scales in decades, or even centuries, into a two hour movie are, predictably, kinda silly. The politics is simply there, whether you agree with its portrayal or not.
I've believed for quite some time that Dennis Quaid is arguably the most underrated actor of his generation, and this film does nothing to shake that belief. However, all of the parts in this are well cast. As with all Emmerich films, the plot has logical holes thought which you could drive several freighters of the size he shows floating through a flooded New York City.
Still, overall, the film works. It has perhaps one too many subplots and could have been more tightly edited. I saw it with a late matinee opening day audience and everyone seemed to appreciate the same things. And I don't mean the truly awesome CGI. The things the audience appreciated were the thinly veiled depiction of Vice President Cheney and some simple jokes used to lighten the mood. One of the ones which received the best reaction was one where the good guys were in a library trying to decide which books to burn for heat.
Is it a substantial movie? Not really, but then neither were the other Emmerich summer blockbusters. It does do a good job of explaining in simple terms the paradox of how global warming could trigger an ice age by the Earth's climate's own self healing properties, so that much is useful. Still, viewers would be wise to remember that the show's educational value all occurs within the first 10 minutes. After that, it's all flights of the script writer's fancy. Even at its silliest and most illogical, it does raise one serious question, though - if we know our actions will result in catastrophe, should we ignore them if the catastrophe happens in our children's or grandchildren's life times?
Whether you want to think, learn, or simply enjoy a good summer movie with lots of awesome special effects, this is good value for your time and money.