Entertaining, large-scale adventure film with simplistic motives.

Rating: Null/10 (23 August 2006)

Director Emmerich seems to have a penchant for demolishing U.S. cities and landmarks! In "Independence Day", the White House, among other places, was destroyed. In "Godzilla", New York City took a beating. Now, Los Angeles, New York City and many points in between (and a few token areas around the rest of the globe) are devastated for the audience's pleasure. Quaid plays a climatologist who attempts to convince the leaders of the world that global warming is coming, probably within fifty to a hundred years. It turns out he was a bit off in his calculations and that the planet is actually going to endure another Ice Age in less than a week! This means that his son Gyllenhaal, who is in NYC for a school trip, is right in the path of a massive snowstorm that crystallizes everything in its way. It also means that his estranged wife Ward will have to sit in an empty hospital, dewily reading to a young cancer patient who can't be moved in anything but an ambulance (apparently freezing to death instantaneously is better than trying to transport a sick boy in a car?) Meanwhile, tornadoes, hailstorms and tidal waves are decimating territories all over the place as the U.S. Government (headed by President King and Vice-President Welsh) waffles on how best to handle the situation. When a tsunami, which is later frozen solid, traps Gyllenhaal and a few of his pals in the NYC public library, Quaid decides to trek from Pennsylvania to Manhattan, mostly on foot (!), to rescue him. In a film like this, it's all about the special effects. Fans of CGI will be in hog heaven as the over-the-top visuals dominate the lion's share of the film, starting with a showy opening sequence that features not one crumb of actual terrain. Again and again, highly-detailed computer imagery floods the screen with overwhelming images of natural disaster and destruction that, while breathtaking at times, never for a moment seem real, but more often look like scenes from a very expensive video game. Alas, this is the Hollywood of today. Nonetheless, given that this is the current method of action cinematography, the effects are top of the line. As in "Independence Day", there are a ton of characters that are hastily sketched in prior to dying. A handful of actors get to flesh out their roles a bit further, or at least have the charisma to let the audience think they have. Quaid does a solid job. Gyllenhaal and his sweetheart Rossum are appealing (she, however, needs to get out of this genre after "Poseidon" lest she becomes the Veronica Hamel of the early 2000's.) Mihok is exceedingly likable as one of Quaid's cohorts and Sanders is strong as another one. Ward does as much as she can with such a thankless, inert role. Holm is probably the most prestigious member of the cast and adds dramatic weight to his smallish role. It's nice to see King (albeit briefly) being used in a major film. The film's eco-message is presented with a sledgehammer. Welsh is blamed for not listening to Quaid's predictions, yet the predictions were given only days before the disaster and without the urgency that was truly needed due to the off-kilter timeline, so what was Welsh expected to do? The film's barely veiled agenda is to blame Republicans for the destruction of the modern world and, unfortunately, nothing is ever that simple. However, taken purely as a popcorn disaster flick, the movie delivers rather well. There's a lot going on, some of it very arresting, and the climax is actually surprisingly moving and hopeful, despite the complete and utter implausibility of virtually everything shown on screen. This is best enjoyed as a mindless adventure/disaster movie while ignoring the ludicrous science and politics of it.