Review of "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004)

The Day After Tomorrow is what I call "environmental horror" -- instead of monsters as the bogeymen, it's our own environment coming after us for revenge for our transgressions.

There are a few problems with this movie. First of all, you have to buy Dennis Quaid as a world-class paleoclimatologist. Then you have to accept 24-year old Jake Gyllenhaal as a school boy suffering through his first crush throughout impending doom. After that, you have to accept that the paleoclimatologist's faithful employees would rather follow him through an icy hell to get to his son than to spend time with their own families as the world freezes over and millions die.

Once you've gotten by all that, you just might have some fun with The Day After Tomorrow. It's written and directed by Roland Emmerich, who most recently directed The Patriot, Godzilla, and Independence Day. If you like big, loud, in -your-face guy flicks infused with sappy chick-flick moments to make sure that there's something for everyone, then you just might like The Day After Tomorrow. I did. I really can't resist even a halfway decent disaster movie. I have an appetite for destruction -- it's a guilty pleasure of mine.

Here's a recap of the plot, such as it is: At the center of the story is paleoclimatologist, Professor Adrian Hall (Quaid), who tries to save the world from the effects of global warming (which actually makes the earth freeze) while also trying to get to his son, Sam (Gyllenhaal), who was in New York City when the city was taken by surprise by the new Ice Age. The only one going north, Dr. Hall decides to go against the flow as most of American mankind races south to warmer climes. The human-interest aspects aren't as profound as, say, Deep Impact, but they drive their points home without being overly heavy-handed (or overly pro-American gung ho, as Emmerich's movies can sometimes be -- in this, he's cast an actor who plays dumb as "The President", and one that looks like an awful lot like Dick Cheney playing the VP).

This "environmental horror" story, though rated PG-13, does have some very imaginative death scenes. In Tokyo it's not Godzilla after the Japanese -- it's icy hail stones the size of small boulders cracking heads open. In Los Angeles it's not the muggers killing tourists -- it's huge billboards of Angelyne crushing all in the way. In New York, it's not the muggers killing folks -- it's ravenous, red-eyed wolves, escaped from the Central Park Zoo.

Despite some spots which are sappy and unintentionally funny, The Day After Tomorrow does deliver what it promises: a big, wild, bring-it-on disaster flick full of narrow escapes, harrowing stunts, tons of ice and snow, CGI up the wahzoo, and the occasional grist for the body-count mill.

Whether or not The Day After Tomorrow takes the box office by storm remains to be seen. But if you like these summer blockbuster type movies, then you probably will want to see it on the screen. Go ahead -- break out the Icee and drink in all those special effects!

Review by Staci Layne Wilson for Horror.com