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The Day After Tomorrow
Directed by Roland Emmerich. Story: Sudden climate change results in an Ice Age rendering the northern hemisphere uninhabitable. With a big tidal wave in Manhattan. Running Time: 124 minutes.
Is it me or are trailers getting better? The last 10 movies I've seen have all been exactly as the trailer promised - The Day After Tomorrow is another prime example. The global climate changes suddenly, New York gets spectacularly taken out, then there's a boring ineffective "human interest" plotline of a kid getting trapped and saved as a result of a heroic effort by the climatologist father guy. Exactly what the trailer suggested.
So it's very much a movie of two halves. The first hour is excellent and will hold anyone's attention, but after Manhattan succumbs to the elements, it not only runs out of steam, it turns off the kettle completely, unplugs it, boxes it up and sells it on eBay.
I enjoyed this film: (4 for the first half, 2 for the second) I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: Cracking disaster effects and whole continents dying. To enjoy this film you should: Spend the second half thinking about how good the first half was.
To buy The Day After Tomorrow today, use this link: The Day After Tomorrow - Two Disc Set [DVD} |
Make no bones about it, this is an effects-driven movie. The whole
reason anyone will go to see it is to see Manhattan destroyed - not in a nasty
way, just in a wow-that's-cool kind of way. This makes it somewhat surprising that
the climax of the destruction happens fairly early on, probably at about the
45-minute mark. It's almost as if Mr Emmerich wanted to tell a human
story, but couldn't get the funding without putting in a load of cataclysmic
effects - but this can't be the case because the human story is so shallow
and ordinary and probably took less time to write than to watch. So the
point of the film must be the disaster bit ... so why finish it so early?
The suspense is wound up very nicely from the beginning of the film, the
story is set and we all settle down nicely, knowing exactly what's going
to happen and looking forward to the city-trashing. Tornadoes begin to form
and set about Los Angeles in a series of seriously entertaining scenes that
set the effects at just the right level - mixing the effects into the
action fabulously effectively. The tension and anticipation builds as
the climatologists start realising the monumental scale of the devastation
lying just hours ahead. And then - the tidal wave... this is perhaps a
little over-amibitious in terms of effects, as it doesn't look quite
real, but it's easily convincing enough to allow the viewer to revel in it.
In fact I noticeably tingled as the wave breached the shore, and there are
plenty of panoramic shots that work very nicely. The whole show up to this
point has been very professional mindless disaster-movie fare.
After the devastation, however,
it all goes horribly wrong. Dennis Quaid sets out to rescue his son,
walking from Philadelphia to New York in Arctic temperatures and ... oh it
doesn't matter. It's utter tripe from here on, which is particularly
irksome as it could have been made into a thought-provoking Armageddon
story as Deep Impact attempted back in 1998. One of the particularly
can-I-go-home-now moments occurs when the heroes run away from the
rapidly dropping temperature and escape by closing the door.
Outside the door, the temperature is minus 150, the inside of the door
suddenly covers with ice, but it's OK, because it's shut. The nasty
cold stuff that brought down three helicopters by freezing the fuel can't
get us now. Come on guys, I wouldn't have bought that at the age of six.
You can only get away with nonsense like this if there's enough eye-candy
to distract the viewer, but all we get from here on is some Muppety wolves
that look as real as Jordan. I half-expected "Wolves by Bob Carolgees"
to appear on the credits.
