THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (2004)
3/4
A FILM REVIEW BY JOHN ULMER (Copyright, 2004)
"The Day After Tomorrow" has been promoted as a potentially true
story. Filmmaker Roland Emmerich has tried to attract huge box office
returns by claiming that scientists have predicted something similar
to the events depicted in this film really could happen. I very much
doubt it.
The film's theory is rather thin, which may explain why it is
simultaneously confusing. A scientist (played by Dennis Quaid)
foresees a global disaster involving polar ice caps. His theory is
that the earth's natural cycle of heat will be disrupted, resulting in
the "next ice age." Of course, as New York City and Los Angeles are
destroyed, and the United Kingdom is frozen solid, it is considered
that mankind is being destroyed. Really? What about areas south of the
US, such as Africa, Australia, and New Zealand?
Emmerich doesn't deal with any other countries than the US and UK,
which will serve as fuel for those who claim the United States is
ignorant when it comes to other countries. But regardless, we are
supposed to believe that the next ice age is occurring. Temperatures
drop at rapid paces. Tidal waves roar across cities, destroying
everything and everyone in their path. Tornadoes demolish large
buildings and blow debris into cars and humans as they grow larger.
While this happens, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) is trapped in Manhattan's
public library. His father (Quaid) tells him to stay put, and that
he'll come get him. There are some fine action sequences prior to the
rescue, such as when Sam finds himself trapped in a large vessel with
a pack of wolves that have escaped from a zoo (don't ask). Great
special effects and tense sequences are ultimately what make silly
scenes like this so fun.
Emmerich is notorious for his big-budget disaster flicks such as the
colossal "Independence Day" and equally gargantuan "Godzilla." Neither
of those two movies worked for me. "Independence Day" was rather
stupid and "Godzilla" was both stupid and inept; a totally joyless
B-monster movie homage complete with a multi-million dollar budget and
famous stars. If "Godzilla" was an homage to those cheesy cult monster
flicks, then "The Day After Tomorrow" is Emmerich's ode to the
disaster flicks of the 1950s and '60s, when the Cold War had just
begun to settle, and when novels such as "Alas, Babylon" depicted
vivid images of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Indeed, "Day" contains
all the fundamental elements of a B-movie, but happens to boast one of
the largest budgets in cinema history as a counter to this summary.
Emmerich's best film, so far, has been the one in which he abandoned
disastrous activities for a touching story in "The Patriot," which
starred Mel Gibson, and which I highly recommend despite its
historical inaccuracies. However, "The Day After Tomorrow" also comes
with a recommendation (albeit a half-hearted one) because it has one
vital ingredient that Emmerich's other disaster movies sorely lacked:
A sense of fun and bouncy spirit.
Yes, "The Day After Tomorrow," while admittedly stupid, is also a very
fun movie with some of -- if not the -- best CGI sequences I have ever
seen. Many people might argue that the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
boasted superior visual effects, but I beg to differ. Here, we see New
York City demolished before our very eyes. Tidal waves pour across
Manhattan -- most of them seemed so real that even my very cynical
perception failed to trace them.
"Day" represents a breakthrough in computer generated images -- I had
a hard time spotting quite a number of them in this film. I am usually
rather anti-CGI. I consider it to be a generally sloppy way of
filmmaking for directors too lazy to put effort into making more
realistic stunt sequences for their films. But here, one of the only
reasons I can recommend the movie in the first place is because of its
CGI. The New York City sequence (roughly ten minutes long) is worth
the admission price alone.
The acting is fairly impressive. Quaid does his best with the dialogue
he is given. Gyllenhaal (who frequently demanded dialogue re-writes on
the set of the film) makes his character likable and a relatable hero.
The movie is not great by any means but the performances are far
better than those in "Independence Day."
On the downside, Emmerich's film is so blatantly liberal that it
almost ruins some of the fun. The President of the United States bears
an uncanny resemblance to Al Gore. He is depicted as the "good guy."
When he dies, the Vice President takes over. He is the "bad guy" who
ignores the warnings of scientists and is responsible for the deaths
of millions. Towards the end of the film (without ruining all of it)
he apologizes to America for being ignorant and declares that we have
been stealing from Mother Earth too long, and should have been more
careful with our resources, yadda yadda. I feel like I've seen this
movie before. And I feel like I've seen this same sort of speech
before. Could it be from "Independence Day"? Maybe. Either way, "The
Day After Tomorrow" has some of the best special effects I've ever
seen. And that is really all I expected from this movie, and I was
surprised to find a fair amount of humor, fun, and tense scenes that I
really didn't expect at all. I think Emmerich is finally learning how
to make a good disaster movie -- hopefully his next will be as good as
this.
- John Ulmer
http://www.wiredonmovies.com
e-mail: johnulmer2003@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
37906
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1285569
X-RT-TitleID: 1132625
X-RT-SourceID: 1382
X-RT-AuthorID: 6769
X-RT-RatingText: 3/4
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