THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: thematic elements

Rated:

Global warming is a rampant paranoia that Roland Emmerich, who brought us Independence Day, has successfully bought into with his latest epic disaster flick. There's something in human nature that finds entertainment in watching characters on film struggle for survival. It's what kept Titanic at the top of the box office for eighteen weeks straight, and why we keep going back to the same history books depicting the tragedies of the Crusades and other examples of man's folly. The Day After Tomorrow explores the possibility of a second ice age and the devastating effects it could have on mankind. It's highly entertaining and, provided tornado funnels the size of the Statue of Liberty, and massive waves three hundred feet high don't give you nightmares, is a worthwhile watch for the sheer scale of it.

Weatherologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) and his team of scientists are on an arctic expedition to chart the polar ice caps. They've noticed a significant shift in pattern; the ice isn't as stable as it used to be and a mighty chasm is awakened through simple drilling. Believing that the planet is warming due to the over use of natural resources, Jack flies back to the states to propose to the UN that a resolution be made to halt the process that might come upon them in a hundred years. The Vice President is against the massive taxes that would incur and writes off their concerns as unfathomable. Frustrated with his inability to convince people of the pressing danger, Jack attempts to piece back together his life. Divorced but in a friendly relationship with his ex-wife (Sela Ward), a practicing medical doctor with a high-state hospital, his greatest challenge is getting through to his high school age son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal).

A brainiac who actually failed his math exam for arguing with his profession over who is more intelligent, Sam has joined a history buffs group for the sake of befriending Laura (Emmy Rossum), the smartest and prettiest girl in school. The team is headed to New York City for a national competition. They arrive in some of the strangest weather Manhattan has ever seen. In fact, the world at large is experiencing dramatic shifts in temperature. China is being hit with shards of ice the size of baseballs. Mongolia is under three feet of snow. Britain, the home of meteorologist Terry Rapson (Ian Holm) is being buried in an ice storm. That doesn't even begin to cover the perils to the United States, where massive tornado funnels are attacking the California coast. Jack's predictions that a second ice age is a hundred years away is way off: it's coming within the next seventy four hours, and his son is right in its direct path.

True to form, the director shows us both sides of the disaster: those who panic and those who persevere. He pays just as much attention to the successes of the survivors, the gentler moments of friendship and love, as the sight of busses being thrown by sixty foot waves and tornados ripping into buildings. The disasters themselves seem to take a back seat to the characters. The French woman and her child trapped in a taxi cab. The British soldiers that freeze to death in Black Hawk helicopters. The little boy with cancer who was "forgotten" by the hospital staff as they fled the oncoming storm. It makes for a very effective means of giving the audience emotional relief from the constant turmoil of tidal waves, hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning storms, blizzards, and every other imaginable natural disaster. The acting is also quite good, particularly from the younger set. While it's true that the whole thing is unbelievable, it also scares the living daylights out of you.

Content issues are comparably mild with other disaster flicks. For once the characters aren't spewing profanity left and right; a dozen mild curses are the worst of it, along with some mild abuse of deity and one incomplete f-word. Sexual content is minimal. A camera man and his girlfriend are shown necking on the couch, with her shirt unbuttoned. Sam strips down to his boxers in order to change out of icy clothes, and Laura uses body heat to warm him back up. There's a particular emphasis on family being extremely important, and many cases show a loving relationship between married couples. The violence is extreme but never particularly gruesome; the worst of it involves people on the street being hit with flying debris from cyclones and tidal waves. Wolves escape from the local sanitarium and attempt to maul people. Laura reveals a very bloody-looking cut on her leg. Numerous people are seen freezing instantly to death, or their bodies are shown as snow-covered corpses. It's implied that a man deliberately falls to his death rather than to risk his partners to an equal fate. There's death on a mass scale but it's never lingered on.

There are elements that will offend conservative viewers. The hard-headed, intensely dislikable vice president bears an uncanny resemblance to Dick Cheney. His manner of speech, hand motions, even some of his dialogue evidence Hollywood's intense loathing for the current administration. The president is also southern, fond of baseball caps, and speaks with a slight drawl. There's also a sneaky tip of the hat to the UN and a preposterous statement toward the end that says "former third world countries" have welcomed refugees throughout the world. Global warming is the cause of all the protagonist's problems, the result of using natural resources. Christians know that another ice age isn't possible, because God would never allow the planet to be completely destroyed. He promises us in Genesis that civilization will never again be wiped out. Furthermore, the earth was given to us to be of use. We need to take good care of it, but it is ours to govern. The characters in this film speak of prayer but never seem to have time for it. In fact, there's an anti-religious statement by an atheist, who saves a Bible from being burned simply because it was the first book ever published and has historic value.

Viewing it purely as a fanciful disaster flick, I wasn't offended by the subtle greenie undertones, but the purposeful demeaning of Bush's administration did ruffle my feathers a little bit. It's epic enough that it's worthwhile viewing and I will probably watch it occasionally but I wouldn't encourage audiences to take it too seriously.

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