I must say, for starters, I’m not a big fan of disaster flicks. I think effect-per-second films are generally trashy, budget flashing and incomparably cheesy. “The Day After Tomorrow” follows this tradition, being all three aforementioned, and more. This is Roland Emmerich’s third big blockbuster flick, following 1996’s “Independence Day” and 99’s “Godzilla”. Although I enjoyed both of these, they were never exactly life-changing and were easily smudged from my memory.
However, hearing raving pre-release reviews and interviews with Mr Self-Indulgence Emmerich that “The Day After Tomorrow” would effectively (excuse me for this) ‘rock my world’, I had high hopes that the new flick would be different; particularly stemming from quotes such as the film would be “eye opening” to say the least. Indeed, the film was “eye opening”, broadening my mind on issues featured, such as the careless burning of fossil fuels and its effect on global warming and the impending melting of the polar ice caps ; unfortunately, concurrently, the film was head-slappingly stupid and terribly clichéd. What had promised to be a genuinely good film popped and deflated like a balloon. Yes, it was that flat.
Climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis “2x4” Quaid) claims to have made the discovery that the world is in for a large-scale climate shift; the consumption of fossil fuels will eventually result in the paradoxical eventuality of a new ice age, due to an imbalance of fresh water and salt water and its negative effect on the north Atlantic current. Or some movie-speak jargon which strives to sound conceivable. However, Hall’s estimations of an on-coming ice age are a lot more likely that he thought, adding to the farfetchedness of the movie, this happens within weeks of his sensationalist claims. Then, jumping straight into the deep end, the tell-tale signs of the new age of ice start to begin;
tornadoes ravage usually calm Los Angeles, devastating the skyline, rip-roaring through the Hollywood sign and other tourist attractions. Coincidence? The film plays like a one-time-visitors account of a holiday destination and one’s own fantasy of the destruction of it.
Emmerich made numerous dubious claims that the film was character driven and the special effects took back-seat to the meaningful storyline. Oh how I wish this was true.
Furthermore, Emmerich makes a half-hearted attempt at characterisation. Running parallel, Jack’s son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) is competing in a competition alongside his mate and future “how long will it take for them to get together” love interest. Not only does Emmerich allow a bunch of idiotic non-likeable characters onscreen, he uses a lacklustre, corny script with every cringe-worthy cliché in the book. The dialogue was in fact so dire that at times I felt embarrassed for whichever sorry-ass was paid to come up with it.
The film is apparently based around the connection between Jack and his son; Sam stranded in a public library in flooded New York City about to experience the big freeze and Jack the typical heroic, valiant father and his attempt to make it back to him against all odds. I say, these are two pointless characters in the midst of world-shaking effect-laden chaos . The characters not only lack a solid back-story but any scrap of personality to be seen. Hall’s one-dimensional heroism plays out like a yarn. The story tries to rely too firmly on the estrangement between the protagonists, but only this. Unfortunately, I couldn’t care less whether Sam or Jack died. In fact, I think I hoped for them to die. Surrounding the two main men are an array of equally pointless characters flashed before our eyes to bluff a higher emotional status than the film is worth. Emmerich is unfortunate in his attempt – I’ve seen more emotion in the carcass of a turkey. Turkey being the operative word.
The film put in a good attempt at being an epic. The general feel from “tDaT” is that everything is super-sized. The effects, the scale, the egos. A good ol’ American flick. The only thing missing is a monologue of the USA’s fight for independence and a better world. I was expecting it to finish on a freeze frame of the American flag; although this never happened, it wasn’t that far fetched a fantasy. The film tried too hard to preach for a better way of life, or an eco-friendly attitude, or something naff like that and lost sight of plot and point along the way.
The stereotypes on-screen were laughable. The Lord of the Rings’ Ian Holm puts on a useless act in “tDaT” as a ‘British’ scientist providing all the right information for Hall to use to predict the next move of the storm. He’s sort of a ‘deus ex machina’ to the improbable plot, coming in at the right times with problem solving ideas. To make sure no-one gets bored and that everyone is up-to-date with the goings on. Oh how very quaint. Would you like some tea and crumpets? Does everyone outside of the British Isles think the English have three things in life to live for – tea, biscuits and Manchester United? I had to bite my tongue to refrain from laughing out loud at its stupidity.
Dennis Quaid is not exactly Oscar deserving. Quaid’s most recent yarn “Cold Creek Manor” was pathetically bad and he follows up with yet another pop at serious acting. Every line delivered from his wooden mouth made my stomach churn. He’s on a par with Kevin Costner for being a plank, I think more careful considerations should have been made for this ‘character’. Or perhaps, just anyone but Quaid. Jake “Donnie” Gyllenhaal is usually up there with the best, “Donnie Darko” was Jake’s breakthrough role; an unusual film with a very select cult audience. I think now Jake’s just playing for the masses. Even he couldn’t pull-off making the cheesy script look good. His lines seemed to be constant reminders that he was some sort of boy genius; much of his dialogue was very fact-recalling as was his big-brown-eyed girlfriend-to-be Emmy Rossum. Sela Ward stars as Hall’s ex-wife with little point in particular. She loiters around a hospital playing hero, caring for a boy with leukaemia. Emmerich’s love for one-dimensional characters shows clearly.
The so-called science behind the movie is questionable. There are gaping holes in the theory; Emmerich said himself he “catalyzed the process” speeding it up by just a few thousand years. Fair enough, the film has a few simple morals that it attempts to preach, but I found myself rooting for the storms, getting my biggest popcorn crunching moments from the chaos and destruction in the major cities. Call me a ghoul, but I like to see a few good ol’ deaths on-screen to give a sense of realism to the unsubstantial ‘plot’. Instead this was glossed over, being a kiddie-friendly 12A thus deaths were very few and far between. Even so, gruesome isn’t in Emmerich’s limited vocabulary.
On a good note, the film had a very typical, though likeable score. It’s your average disaster-movie accompaniment to get you feeling in all the right places so you know when to feel for the characters or when to be astounded by the devastating visuals. I can’t really fault it for being average – shamefully it could well be the best part of this distinctly average film.
I think I was most disappointed by the fact that the film’s premise was solid and had the potential for something memorable to be made out of it. If Emmerich had delivered as promised a character-driven plot and spent less time wasting bucks on unnecessary SFX in stacks, perhaps my review could have been a little different. Those of you going into this movie looking for a plot are going to be seriously disappointed, I only recommend this to those of you who think “Armageddon” is the best film ever made. On the other hand, if you liked “Deep Impact” – avoid at all costs, you may feel suicidal in the wake of this shoddy, stale, over-stretched picture. It isn’t often I feel the need to throw rotten tomatoes at the silver screen – but I was in this mood in the aftermath “The Day After Tomorrow”. However much I want to secure this flick a two-star rating, I know I’m mainly faulting it for it being run-of-the-mill. I’ll stick with a weary three-star rating, predominantly for the visually pleasing special effects – even still this feels overly-generous for this irritating ordinary movie .
Avoid unless you can stomach lines such as “I think we have reached a critical desalinization point” and take it seriously.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1945 - Drama - Director: David Lean - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond
Production Year: 1999 - Drama - Director: Dick Maas - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: William Hurt, Jennifer Tilly, Denis Leary, Michael Chiklis, Francesca Brown
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Turning pressing environmental issues into the theme of a big summer blockbuster, you cant ... more
say that director Roland Emmerich isnt willing to take his chances. And whileThe Day After Tomorrowdoes ask you to suspend fair chunks of disbelief, it is both a...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
From the Director of Independence Day comes a spectacular roller-coaster ride that boasts ... more
pulse-pounding action and sensational, mindblowing special effects. When global warming triggers the onset of a new Ice Age, tornadoes flatten Los Angeles, a tida...
Turning pressing environmental issues into the theme of a big summer blockbuster, you cant ... more
say that director Roland Emmerich isnt willing to take his chances. And whileThe Day After Tomorrowdoes ask you to suspend fair chunks of disbelief, it is both a...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
From the Director of 'Independence Day' comes a spectacular roller-coaster ride that ... more
boasts pulse-pounding action and sensational mindblowing special effects. When global warming triggers the onset of a new Ice Age tornadoes flatten Los Angeles a...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Great special effects and good interesting characters. Disadvantages: I wasn't to keen on the ending and also felt that some things were cut out.
![The Day After Tomorrow - Two Disc Edition [DVD] [2004]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78519533.jpg "The Day After Tomorrow - Two Disc Edition [DVD] [2004]")
Jun 6th, 2004
exceptional by (10%):
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