Review of The Day After Tomorrow (2004) by Matthew D — 13 Sep 2018

An engaging and quick paced disaster movie.

Roland Emmerich ruins his most popular disaster movie in years with awful shaky camera work and few interesting shots. The poor stereotypical writing gives little plot other than to set up cool frozen setpieces. Little to no characterization leaves the audience forgetting every character's names, let alone their personality.

The thing I found most surprising with The Day After Tomorrow was that almost every scene has CGI layered on with amateur green screen special effects that have aged quite poorly. The whole movie looks like a cheap video game, much less a big budget film. This is why you do not rely on CGI to carry your film. The ice looks good, but the storm, water, and wolves are all pretty heinously executed. I have not often witnessed such ugly CGI.

The saving grace of The Day After Tomorrow other than it's shorter running time and brisk pace is the atmosphere, isolation, and acting. The movie paces itself quickly to get to the next impressive in scope action set piece. From giant ships to falling down icy canyons, The Day After Tomorrow takes you on quite a perilous trip.

Lastly, the acting from Dennis Quaid is pretty nice. He is a likable hero and you want him to live as he is one of the few logical scientists in the film. Jake Gyllenhaal is a neat protagonist. I like his acting even as a young man. He feels approachable and intelligent, making him instantly one of the more likable characters. The only other decent performance is from the lovely Emmy Rossum. She is also very smart and feels like an actual character instead of just a love interest. Too bad they threw in an awkward love triangle in the first half.

Overall, most audiences will be entertained by The Day After Tomorrow. Do not expect a great film, nor a masterclass in cinematography, writing, or effects. But the cold isolation and desperate struggle for survival should distract you for 2 hours.