Not quite top notch...

Rating: 8/10 (2 February 2007)

The Day After Tomorrow is overflowing with brilliant special effects, epic scenes of death and destruction, a meaty subject matter and a famous cast and director. Could anything be better for this film? Well, the answer is... yes. The Day After Tomorrow was good, by all standards. But it really is just another big budget Hollywood blockbuster, and won't be changing any environmental policies anytime soon. The film was very predictable from start to finish - it would have worked better had it been more realistic, but there's always got to be heroes and glory, hasn't there? The character development may have been shoddy and non-existent, but at least the people we followed felt like real people rather than a faceless mass thrown into a CGI-filled world to be put in danger and narrowly avoid death. And to be fair, this film was never boring. We actually had an idea of the struggles our main characters went through - even if they all just seemed to merely pass by before our eyes. The special effects are breathtaking and the action is top-notch - Roland Emmerich has created a film worthy to be called a hit. This film probably will have you thinking - could this happen to us one day soon? But with the constant sentimentality running throughout the film and unrealistic narrow brushes with death, it's hard to say this film is a realistic depiction of a possibly destructive nearby future. Though to be honest, this really is just another popcorn movie. And teenagers will love it. 8/10