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by Scott Juba Published: May 26, 2004
  Photos Copyright 20th Century Fox When it comes to destroying the world with state of the art CGI effects, Roland Emmerich is a master. Unfortunately, when it comes to crafting a compelling, character driven story, he is a miserable failure. In his latest film, “The Day After Tomorrow”, which hits theatres on May 28th, Emmerich depicts the effects of a shift in the North Atlantic Current on the world’s weather. He uses the scenario to create visually stunning sequences of towering tidal waves crashing against New York City and multiple twisters tearing through downtown LA. Lost amidst the climate mayhem, however, is any attempt to create a cohesive, sensible story. When connecting the dots of his screenplay, Emmerich continually opts for the most illogical, far-fetched conclusions that could possibly be imagined. In effect, rather than producing a suspenseful, engaging film, he settles for creating a B-movie that’s more likely to inspire laughs than terror. As far as the acting is concerned, Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal play a father and son who share a distant relationship because of the father’s immersion in his work. Unfortunately, because of the paper-thin story, neither actor is able to display the full extent of their talent. From his earliest films, Gyllenhaal in particular, has struck me as an actor with exceptional acting ability and potential; but in “The Day After Tomorrow” he is constrained by the depthless nature of his character. Because of the immense exposure that he will receive, his decision to act in “The Day After Tomorrow” will most likely turn out to be a wise career move. From an acting standpoint, however, this is probably his weakest performance to date. Yet the real tragedy of “The Day After Tomorrow” is that it takes the important issue of global warming and dilutes its credibility by offering a completely unreasonable look at the problem. Because of the film’s unscientific nature, many moviegoers are likely to come out of the theatre with the impression that global warming is a make-believe problem. When approaching such a delicate issue, the filmmakers assume a measure of responsibility to the subject matter. The manner in which “The Day After Tommorow” blatantly shirks that responsibility is a true disservice to its audience. Moreover, in order to effectively sell the plausibility of a disaster movie, it is necessary to convince the audience that what they are seeing is real. Gifted director M. Night Shyamalan was able to pull this off in “Signs”, because unlike Emmerich, his focus was not on blowing up the world. Instead, Shyamalan intensely concentrated on the effect that a catastrophic event had on an individual family, and he took every opportunity to flesh out each of his characters. In addition, Shyamalan displayed restraint by using as few CGI effects as possible, relying mainly on the interactions of the characters to propel the action of the film. While direct comparisons cannot be drawn between “Signs” and “The Day After Tomorrow”, the contrasting styles and methods of storytelling provide an insightful look into the overall effect of each film. Whereas “Signs” was a thoughtful, intelligent film, “The Day After Tomorrow” is a mindless, overblown attempt to bombard viewers with so many impressive visuals that they forget to examine the coherency of the film’s events. More than anything, “The Day After Tomorrow” represents an emerging paradox in the film industry. As computer technology improves, it often seems that scripts are getting worse. If this trend continues, film’s value as an art form will inevitably decline. Thankfully there are still serious filmmakers like the aforementioned Shyamalan who understand how to make great movies. If you’re looking for a summer movie with real potential, save your $8 and wait for Shyamalan’s “The Village”, because “The Day After Tomorrow” is a major disaster. Overall Grade: D+ For more Day After Tomorrow info: Sirlinksalot's Day After Tomorrow Page |
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