So Serious

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2004)

The Day After Tomorrow is well worth the effort it might take to see it at the plex. This is a film that recognizes the value of the big screen and is a treat to look at. Not in the sense of cinematographic beauty but as a sensory wake-up call.
Unlike many action movies of recent years, I did not notice that the sound was so loud and insistent that it became annoying. So the proper use of loud noise to underscore frightening moments was properly heightened. Add to that the nice use of computer-enhanced graphics (except the wolves) and what we have is a perfectly fine summer adventure flik.
It is nice to see Jake Gyllenhaal and Dennis Quaid offered the opportunity to work a big-budget Hollywood extravaganza, and I hope they were well paid for it. Both were up to the roles assigned. It is too bad the character Quaid played (Dr. Hall) was so serious all the time. This seems to be the requirement for important scientists in all of filmdom, so I don't hold him personally responsible.
Scientifically the premise of this film is one enormous stretch. Scientists to this day, like the Three Bears , cannot even agree on whether the Earth is cooling, warming or just right. Type global warming and then type global cooling into a Search Engine; ponder the number of hits received on each.
In the adventure sense Day After Tomorrow is rather a larger fissure to jump, mountain to climb or river to swim. The storyline regarding the trek undertaken by the distraught father (Quaid) to reach his son (Gyllenhaal) is peppered with unlikely issues. In one case snowshoes are depended on to provide transportation and no Olympic athlete ever covered the distances cited in less than a hundredfold the time.
In any case the film is a fairly riveting action yarn with mild political overtones. Even children can view it without fear of nightmares; they may laugh out loud at the stunts involving the aforementioned wolves, though, since they watch more cartoons than adults.