Big and Bad

Rating: 4/10 (24 October 2004)

From the man who brought us such disaster areas as 'Independence Day' and 'Godzilla' comes this latest disaster; The Day After Tomorrow. As you probably already know, The Day After Tomorrow is about bad weather. Lots of it, all coming at once; we've got hurricanes, tidal waves, hail stones, snow and, well, actually that's it. For a movie that professes to have lots of disasters; it's seriously lacking. The disasters, when they're on, are a huge disappointment. Judging by the trailers, you would expect the disasters to make up most of the film, but this isn't the case. The effects are outstanding, but the disaster scenes themselves don't last long at all, and they're not even very exciting. The scenarios tend to cut off before the money shot kicks in, so what we're left with is several 'half' disasters and, overall, I get the impression that Roland Emmerich can't handle the vast scale of the film. Between the disasters, we are given the staple 'human drama behind the disaster' set-up, and like most disaster films before this one; it's terrible and very much something that you will be better off missing. In fact, if you've seen the trailer, then really; you've seen the film.
As you might expect; the film is set in America. As if America is the only country on earth, all the action is centred there and all other countries have to either make do with a mention, or more commonly; nothing at all. We are treated to sequences such as The Statue of Liberty sticking out of the snow; but never any others. Where's the Eiffel tower while all this is going on? Buckingham Palace? The Taj Mahal? Stone Henge? Nope, because if it's not America, it's not important. Or at least that's the case with this film. Somehow, there's time for a scene where the American flag freezes, but there isn't time to show what's happening to the Kremlin. Ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, let's move on to the human drama side of the film. The main story follows a father (Dennis Quaid) who must travel all the way to New York to rescue his son (Jake Gyllenhaal) who has become trapped in the snow. For a start, this plot is ridiculous; the weather shown in this film is so extreme that you'd be taking a risk walking to the local post office (assuming it's still there, of course), but somehow this guy is able to walk halfway across America? Something tells me that Emmerich doesn't fully respect his audience's intelligence. The drama is also dripping with sickly fake sentiment, which only serves in being pathetic. The film is also far too upbeat; it centres on a disaster that has killed millions of people, and yet we're supposed to feel good because a father has managed to save his son? What about all the other people that have lost their lives?
Good points? Well, the film does have some interesting sequences. One of which sees a reporter get whisked away by a piece of debris while reporting on the tornado's that are sweeping the country, another sees a helicopter pilot freeze instantly, and there's also a sequence that involves our main character being chased by a pack of wolves; which would have been interesting if the wolves weren't so obviously CGI. It's not even good CGI, for god's sake. The cast aren't bad, but nobody shines. Jake Gyllenhaal probably wanted a change from doing small independent films, and I can understand that; but he impressed in those films, and he doesn't here. Stick to what you're good at, Jake. Dennis Quaid tries to be the intellectual hero, but misses the mark due to an entirely rigid performance and Ian Holm is the British man that goes out on a tribute to Manchester United. Don't get me wrong, Man U deserve a tribute; but would you really be toasting a football team when you're about to killed? Just another of the film's silly sequences.
One day, someone will make a good disaster film. One that doesn't just focus on America, one that takes it's subject material into account and doesn't turn a disaster into a uplifting drama. One that does it's human drama in an interesting way, and one that does what it says on the tin where the disasters are concerned. One day that will happen, but today isn't that day. And neither is The Day After Tomorrow.