The Day After Tomorrow (12A) Review

Overall Rating

Some cool effects
Quite entertaining

There was never a feeling of impending doom
Cliffhanger ending (I hate those)

The Day After Tomorrow - From the maker of Independence Day comes another disaster film (these guys need therapy) that is highly entertaining despite its flaws.

The pace of the film is pretty fast, and it quickly introduces the characters before all hell breaks loose. And it does with a bang, as we see some cool tidal waves and tornadoes and the like. What's lacking is an interesting story that could have made this film a lot better. But I guess it would have drawn our attention away from the apparent enemy here: mother nature.

The premise: a massive storm caused by global warming strikes the Earth, and in doing so engulfs some major cities in ice and snow.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays the son of a meteorologist played by Dennis Quaid. When the disasters begins, Jake and his friends are stuck in New York, and dad goes on a journey halfway across the country to save them. The performances here aren't Oscar material, but they are okay and don't bog down the story. However, Gyllenhaal stands out as the distressed and brave student; a performance that could definitely earn him more high profile roles.

The film does prove highly successful in the effects department. Your eyes will be glued to the screen as tornadoes and floods sweep people away before the entire of NYC freezes to death. The film is somewhat a cautionary tale, as it shows what could happen if we don't take care of our atmosphere, but knowing that something like this couldn't happen within a week (which it does in the film) takes away all feelings of impending doom and fear. Nevertheless, this was meant to be an entertaining and exciting film and it manages to entertain and excite to its full potential. A great film to watch if you feel like the world is treating you badly.