A welcome return to form for Roland Emmerich! **Minor Spoiler**

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2004)

The Day After Tomorrow is a wonderful old fashioned disaster movie with a refreshing slant! For once the Americans DON'T save the day...in fact, they share responsibility for the actual disaster.
The special effects are amazing; the performances enjoyable; and the storyline proceeds at a cracking pace. Though the great ice walk in the second half of the film was largely pointless, it was a necessary plot device to show the magnitude of the disaster, and to move the story forward.
For every over-the-top scene in this movie (wolves chasing our hapless student heroes), there was one of poignancy and quiet reflection - specifically those involving Ian Holm and his comrades trapped in Scotland.
Speaking of Ian Holm - what a wonderful understated performance! While the rest of the cast turned in competent performances, he all but managed to steal the show from the more heroic Dennis Quaid and magnetic 'it-boy' Jake Gyllanhael.
Any movie that can make a point about western immigration policies/ the stupidity of government policy / and global warming, while still telling an 'edge-of-the-seat' story is a great movie in my book.
A welcome return to form for Roland Emmerich! I give it an A- (it loses a point for the shameless exploitation of a young cancer patient)