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The Day After Tomorrow (Full Screen Edition) | Year: 2004 Classification: Action/Adventure Directed: - Roland Emmerich Actors/Actresses: - Dennis Quaid - Jake Gyllenhaal - Emmy Rossum Worthy, albeit awkwardly delivered, message The funny thing about The Day After Tomorrow is that there is no bad guy, no us-versus-them polarisation. There is no solid, tangible target for the characters to battle against. ThereÕs no jingoistic weÕre-gonna-save-the-world message as in Roland EmmerichÕs earlier disaster movie Independence Day. Instead, what we get is a strange mix of exaggerated socio-political commentary and stunning special effects. At the start of the film, earnest scientist Jack Hall (Quaid) tries in vain to persuade a committee of politicians of the vulnerability of the earthÕs environment. The economy is every bit as fragile, the US vice-president retorts in justification of the abandonment of the Kyoto accord. But is it any surprise that in the world of left-wing Hollywood, the politicians turn out to be disastrously wrong? The film compresses real life into the microcosmic confines of a two-hour running time. Thus a process that would, by reasonable estimates, take at least decades to occur, is pushed into fast-forward here: we watch incredulously as the ice caps melt and the whole world is thrown into a new Ice Age in Òseven to ten daysÓ. This cataclysmic climate change is realised with CGI twisters in Los Angeles destroying the Hollywood sign (yes, itÕs supposed to be funny), deadly hail Òthe size of grapefruitÓ in Tokyo, tidal waves flooding downtown Manhattan and the amusing sight of panicked hordes of Americans illegally fleeing into Mexico. The scope of EmmerichÕs vision (directing, producing, story and screenplay credits) is so large that the people in the story are mere afterthoughts, regardless of EmmerichÕs claim that Òno matter how big the effects are, the heart of the movie is still human drama.Ó It is when the focus shifts from the macro to the micro that the film stumbles: the characters are caricatures (the Dick Cheney-impersonating politician who wonÕt listen, the doctor who wonÕt leave her patient, the father who sets off to almost certain death to rescue his stranded son), the dialogue is equally risible (ÒI WILL come for you, do you hear me?!Ó), and there are distracting inconsistencies in the plot. Still, throw in a crack about Nietzsche at the exact moment when the audience needs a little lightening up and you have a Hollywood spectacle with a worthy, albeit awkwardly delivered, message that deserves to be remembered long after the day after tomorrow. "Independence Day" minus the aliens, plus eco-propaganda. If you've seen the 1997 sci-fi hit "Independence Day", then for all practical purposes you've seen this movie too. The only real difference is that instead of a bunch of ticked-off aliens, the threat of human extinction comes from a ticked-off "Mother Nature". In the former, however, it was all about "us versus them" and the triumph of the human will to survive. In "Day After Tomorrow", the message is: "We have met the enemy, and they are the Republicans." Yeah, the movie is about the epic struggle to survive in the face of an overwhelming natural catastrophe, but it's pretty obvious that the producers were less interested in telling a story and more concerned about sending an election-year political message. From the early scenes of the movie, the "hero" character (a very forgettable paleoclimatologist played by Dennis Quaid) serves as the "voice crying in the wilderness" against the environmentally unsound excesses of corporate America. He warns of the doomsday scenario which does in fact unfold throughout the movie, but the heavily stereotyped conservative politicians (who are, no doubt, in the pockets of the polluters) shrug off his warnings. Maybe it's just me, but I thought the "vice president" character looked uncannily like Dick Cheney. Coincidence? I don't think so, but feel free to decide for yourself. The main story is about a dysfunctional family whose members find themselves separated by the unpredictable (yet somehow predicted) chain of natural events. Of course, the events aren't really natural -- they're caused by foolish and greedy men who fail to pay attention to the needs of Mother Earth. Somehow, against incredible odds, the family manages to reunite, save the human race, and resolve their own domestic issues all at the same time. And of course, the tale is duly concluded with the humiliation of America and its (implied Republican) leaders, as well as some cheap jabs at American immigration policy. In short, this is enviro-hysteria at its cheesy best, but election year political propaganda at its worst. There isn't even a mild attempt to veil the message -- it's right there in your face. If you're a Bush-hater, you'll cheer. If you're a little more honest with yourself, you'll see this film for the cheap trash that it is. The ONLY reason I gave it a second star was because it was chock full of stunning visual effects from beginning to end. Beyond that, your enjoyment of this movie will stand in direct relation to your political affiliation. That's no way to make a movie. Rent it the day after whenever To paraphrase Buffy the vampire slayer, this movie "happens to suck beyond the telling of it." There are some neat stunts and special effects now and then. Gyllenhaal and Rossum have an emotionally real microsecond together. That's the pluses. Quaid is...Quaid. This is Sela Ward's first summer blockbuster but she is under- and mis-used. Even though her character is a doctor, it's clear that turning 48 means this award-winning actress is now relegated to five-minute mom roles - which is a crying shame. And the Bush-43 administration has a guest appearance as villains/comic relief. Unlike Emmerich's enjoyable "Independence Day," this disaster movie doesn't make up for it's cheesy dialogue, paper-thin characters, and completely unbelievable situations with a wink and a nod to the classics. It takes itself far too seriously then asks the audience to believe things that induce eyerolls (a cold front chasing people down a hallway) and guffaws (the president addresses the entire world through the Weather Channel). It wants to be a message movie and a B-movie all at once. Uh-uh. Buy The Day After Tomorrow at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Day After Tomorrow Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Day After Tomorrow This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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