The Day After Tomorrow 2004 Review
Sure gives me peace for a moment, knowing that the music in a movie made by Roland Emmerich gives peoples life, new hope. Emmerich movies seem to have a theme, billions of people seem to have died, but thank god, the major characters survived. It is always so dramatic when Los Angeles gets attacked by flying saucers, in Emmerich’s “Independence Day”, New York getting brutally assaulted in his “Godzilla.” In ”The Day After Tomorrow” With alot of Northern Hemisphere for added bonus, Emmerich does the unthinkable with Los Angeles, which gets demolished by multiple tornados, and New York, which gets entombed in ice and snow, the United Kingdom gets flash-frozen. Sam, Laura and their pals along with Jack are so lucky to have survived the apocalypes that Emmerich sets in place. Thank god too, Dr. Hall’s little cancer patient which makes this film soft.
Yes, the movie is absurdly silly, but what is surprising is the amount of genuine scares it provides. The special effects are so impressive that the film is still enjoyable despite the ridiculous plot. Tornadoes dismantling Los Angeles while ignoring the Hollywood sign, a Russian tanker cruising down the streets of New York, water roaring into New York, snow engulfing skyscrapers, and violent storms being the only view available for a space station crew are all views that grab your attention.
I'm sure many of you are already irritated with me for pointing out how Jack, Sam, Laura, Jason, Dr. Lucy Hall, and the little girl suffering from cancer make it. Have I spoiled the narrative? No, this plot does it all by itself. The countless lives lost in catastrophic events while the movie’s focus remains on a select few is entertaining. Naturally those few are bound to survive, albeit at the expense of some supporting characters. There is a certain level of amusement while watching films such as “The Day After Tomorrow watch here hurawatch” as the screenplay rotates its focus from subcontinent destruction in a singular point of view to whether Sam declares his love for Laura.
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The film features Dennis Quaid as a climatalogist Jack Hall, whose computer models predict that global warming will lead to a new ice age. He gives a warning at a New Delhi conference, only to be sarcastically dismissed by the American vice president (Kenneth Welsh) who the movie doesn’t even try to pretend doesn’t look just like Dick Cheney. “Our economy is every bit as fragile as the environment” the vice president states, dismissing Jack’s “sensational claims”.
In no time, however, it is snowing in India, and hailstones the size of softballs are ripping into Tokyo. As always birds, being wise in matters of global disaster, fly south double-time. Turbulence tears airplanes from the sky. The president (Perry King) learns the FAA wants to ground all flights and asks the vice president, “What do you think we should do?”
In the meantime, young Sam Hall (Jake Gyllenhaal) travels to New York with an academic decathlon team, Laura (Emmy Rossum of “Mystic River“) and Brian (Arjay Smith) being a part of the team. Griffin is the team's captain. They’re stranded there. Jack sanguinary flees his home and attempts to save humanity facing technicolor wall of his own creation. Ominous portents abound and Jack finally gets his message through to the administration (“This time. A friend within the White House tell me this time it will be different: you’ve got to brief the president DIRECTLY.”
Jack draws a divisive line crossing the map of the United States splashing purple paint all over the map for effect and informs them of the hipocrisy of the countries borders.
He warns that anyone exposed to super-cooled air will definitely die. It is critical for people in that area to remain indoors. And where is he heading? Washington? Then New York? Ah! He is trying to reach his son. Alongside, two of his buddies, both veterans from Arctic treks, begin their journey.
We are wondering (a) why does he have to walk to New York when his skills can be of use to save millions? (b) whether his son will be dead or alive regardless of his journey? And (c) what is the minimum time-frame it would take to walk from Washington to New York City, traversing ice sheets and enduring blizzard hurricanes? As far as I can compute, this movie imagines that a timeline of two nights combined with three days is sufficient to accomplish this incredible feat. Oh wait, my bad. Part of the journey is traversed on the frozen, snowbound, traffic jammed highways, which are seemingly devoid of vehicles, and where the drivers are, is nobody's business. How they manage to get fuel is, apparently, not of much significance.
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For those with knowledge on this formula, the answer to (a) is pretty simple: It is because He Feels Guilty About Neglecting His Son. He has spent his life trying to figure out how to spell paleoclimatologist (this only gets funnier when you realize it's just a dead man’s profession). Sure, as far as the human interlace goes, it is all bonkers — with the exception of the still moments featuring Ian Holm as a mournful, wise Scottish meteorologist. Similar to Peter O'Toole in “Troy,” Holm shows that any master-trained British thespian can step into any context and instantly lend it a weight of significance.
Quaid and Gyllenhaal along with a handful of New Yorkers try to navigate through the absurd scenarios bestowed upon them, most of which contain nonsensical interactions. Dr. Lucy Hall (Sela Ward) is Jack's wife. Jack is a cystic fibrosis patient who’s also Sam’s mother. In another subplot, she attempts valiantly to save Peter — a child afflicted with cancer. So, after the hospital's evacuation, she stays with him proclaiming, “Help is on the way!” which, let’s face it, is marked by the frozen snow about Manhattan being flooded to the eighth floor and the water inside freezing. And what of the so-called ambulance? Another fun nugget for you — what about those wolves that made a run for it from the zoo? Think we’ll set eyes on them again?
I have no comments regarding the science in this film. I do believe global warming is genuine and that President Bush’s government was wrong in denying the Kyoto Treaty; however, if there is going to be some geological catastrophe, I highly doubt it would be accompanied with such ridiculous circumstances. For a good laugh, sure. Most definitely the parts where Mexicans are welcomed to the United States and the Vice President addresses the Weather Channel. It is ludicrous, yes, but wonderfully ludicrous. The Day After Tomorrow is pure comedic gold, rock my socks off with the outlandish scenarios the film employs as “what if findings,” and it’s final blowing result were those stellar special effects.
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