The Day After Tomorrow

The Day After Tomorrow takes all of the disaster movies of the ’70s like Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, and Earthquake, puts them in a blender and puts it on churn. The poor people of the US, and other countries we are told through out the story, are plagued by earthquakes, twisters, tidal floods, and the new ice age. There is not much story to speak of, but the drama of the film is the fury of nature, and the struggle is of people trying to survive. All of the drama is right there on screen as fragile people weather one storm after another. No pun intended.

As the story begins, climatologist Tom Hall, watches as a portion of the polar ice cap breaks off, and then travels to present his findings on how global warming trends will trigger a change in the Atlantic current causing massive global cooling, in essence Mother Nature strikes back against humanity to undo the damage it has caused. Here the intrepid doctor with the I-told-you-so foreknowledge is played by a stalwart Dennis Quaid. The good doctor warns that if the nations do not change their evil ways their children’s children may inherit a wasteland in 100 years. An American politician Vice President Becker, looking strangely similar to Dick Cheney, argues, ‘the environment is fragile, so is our economy’ and asks who will pay the burden for all of this green legislation. There ends the political commentary of what could have been an interesting warning to a mass consuming audience. But instead damn the morals CGI full speed ahead.

Of course the doctor and his colleagues are wrong, Dr Terry Rapson, played by Ian Holm, returns to his remote station where he tests for Atlantic current temperatures. He sees a drop in the temperatures in the Atlantic signaling that the new ice age has indeed begun and that most of the northern half of the hemisphere will be frozen inside of a few days. At this point they also involve some science about super cooled cells of air that drop the temperature to -134 in seconds and then pass on. I don’t know why, but it makes for an insidious creeping evil.

Next are the series of vivid depictions of mass destruction, the real soul, if the term can be applied, of the movie. The CGI gurus were set free with their tools. Hideous weather begins to upset life in the US. We are told that other parts of the world are experiencing drastic changes but aside from a few scenes on TV and with Dr Rapson all of the action focuses on the States. The most impressive of these is when they go to Los Angeles beset by, of all things, tornados that rip through the buildings. This was my favorite part of the film, I thought that the destruction was impressive, there was only one concern, would buildings designed to withstand earthquakes really fall apart in that way? Look at the tornados in Dallas and Oklahoma City, sure they did damage, but they didn’t really rip apart the buildings. But this isn’t that kind of cerebral movie so I should avoid digressing.

Dr Hall’s son Sam, played by Spiderman runner up Jake Gyllenhaal, is on his way to New York for a scholastic competition with his intended sweetie when the weather changes They are stranded in New York when it begins to rain, and rain, and rain. Much of the film follows them attempting to escape from Manhattan, boy that sounds like a concept for a movie itself.

At this point the clueless president, looking strangely like GW Bush, is told to jump into action. The snow has started to fall over the northern half of the US and hope is waning as the super cell heads south through Canada. The president orders the evacuation of the Northern half of the US. There is some really funny footage of people trying to escape into Mexico that has closed its borders to keep the American refugees out. People cut the fences and wade across the Rio Grande clutching their belongings and retreating to the more temperate south. Not until the American acting president agrees to forgive all Latin American debt are the borders open for the influx of refugees.

Sam and his friends take refuge in the New York Public Library and make a last ditch call to Sam’s father so he knows where to head to find him. Though he has not always been the most reliable father, Sam is sure that his dad will come to the rescue. Now this is the point where the movie could have gotten a real cross section of America and introduce some major conflict like the rivalry between Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine that made The Poseidon Adventure so riveting. There is a point where the stay or go issue is made and most of the people leave the library, but that is the only real conflict and leaves the film flat. Then there are a few scenes involving getting onto a stranded boat looking for medicine and encountering wolves, but there is really no point to any of that action. The group sits around burning books and waiting to be saved.

Thus this film, while entertaining in a big summer film sort of way does not really leave a fond remembrance in the mind and is in fact forgotten before you get to the car. After all, there is not that much story to review or character development to get in the way of the vast visual effects. Emmerich has made many an over the top blockbuster that goes more for wow than for substance. Here is yet another entry that turned into a spectacle that could have been so much more.