The Day After Tomorrow ---- **1/2 (out of 5) (2004)
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward, Ian Holm
Director(s): Roland Emmerich
Screenwriter(s): Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Roland Emmerich
Released on: May 28, 2004
Reviewed on: June 10, 2004
Rated: PG-13 - for intense situations of peril
For me, a big-budget disaster movie that clocks in at about two hours is a great way to kill some time on a dull Tuesday in the summer. And THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW gave me that exact sense of satisfaction after it finished. It had flaws a-plenty, but there was just enough pulse-pounding, theatre-shaking intensity that it managed to succeed in raising some of my adrenaline in spite of itself.
A climatologist named Jack Hall notices some distinct changes in the North Atlantic current that could result in a new ice age in about 50 to 100 years. However, when he becomes associated with an observant British scientist named Terry Rapson, he notices that the ocean temperature dropped 13 degrees in a very short period. This indicates that the ice age could occur dangerously sooner than Jack predicted. Before they can even begin evacuation, the storm of the millennium hits and massive devastation is happening all across the northern hemisphere. Tornadoes terrorize Los Angeles, life-threatening hail rains down upon New Delhi, and New York City is submerged in water right before it freezes and begins to get heavy snow accompanied with temperatures that someone could freeze to death in in minutes. Once Jack discovers that his son, Sam, is still trapped in Manhattan, he vows that he will find his son even if it means walking from Philadelphia to New York in perilous conditions.
Roland Emmerich has pulled out all the stops in his newest film of apocalyptic proportions. His goal, very plainly, is to entertain his viewers in any way possible. If one method fails, he'll hit us with an even more implausible situation that hints at impending death or disaster to hamper the survival efforts of the main characters. Although it is often cheesy, highly exaggerated, and far from impressive, it is awfully entertaining when the special effects that are coupled with the destruction scenes come into play. The first few scenes when the storm starts to gradually gain power and ferocity are when you'll find yourself feeling guilty as a sappy, twisted grin slowly spreads across your face. TOMORROW no doubt scores a grand slam on the "suspense factor" during these vital, ominous moments that build up towards inevitable havoc.
As with any good movie, Emmerich's extremely engrossing Armageddon-like flick is not without its flaws. Every so often, the film takes cheap stabs at humor while the tension is heightening that fall flat, but luckily there are very few of them. And no matter how much explanation is provided to try and make us believe that an ice age predicted to hit in a century can miraculously strike in over a week, it's never believable. The filmmakers apparently knew this as well, so they made an effort for us to forgive them by bombarding the viewers with gargantuan chaos and putting everyone on the globe in a state of restless terror so we can have the pleasure of watching it all fall apart in front of their eyes.
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW was one of those B-grade flicks that managed to come out on top and steer away from the unwanted B-grade status once it reached its climax. With every cheesy, eye-rolling scene that threatened to submerge the film in stupidity, another scene would occur quickly following that to counter this with explosive entertainment value and weather-related shocks galore. TOMORROW is lackluster on the plot aspect but its idea of global mayhem seemed to save it altogether. I do, therefore, recommend it (though somewhat guiltfully) as a great kick-off to the summer blockbuster smashes that are sure to follow.
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