The Day After Tomorrow - A Movie Review

The world will turn into another ice age after this storm.

After a weather prediction, The Day After Tomorrow arrived in theaters in 2004. When his prediction proves wrong, disastrous weather transpires around the world. With dangerous temperatures dropping, Jack Hall, a paleoclimatologist treks from Washington D.C to New York City to rescue his son trapped by the intense storms in the library.

I always enjoy a good disaster film. However, disaster films need essential components to make them memorable films. Containing worthy disaster sequences, a talented character ensemble, and a realistic premise, scientists have called out The Day After Tomorrow for its implausible inaccuracy and weather-related events.

The film supplies a handful of characters. The question is if they’re intriguing or original and not typecast as your typical characters in every disaster film. While they’re played by well-known actors, the characters are one-dimensional, lacking depth. Falling short in character development, the ensemble cast delivers compelling performances.

Dennis Quaid is easily the best performance as Jack Hall, a brilliant climatologist who hikes through devastating weather to save his son.

Jake Gyllenhaal is a talented actor, himself, but he was playing Sam Hall, your typical teenager (even though he was in his 20s). He has a romance with Emmy Rossum (Laura) who is barely given any development. That was the issue with most of Rossum’s casting in some movies, failing to expand her character arcs.

The subplot involving Sam and his fellow survivors is underdeveloped. This is my favorite part of the film, but now that I watch it again, I’m disappointed that the film failed to explore character relationships. There was so much potential like with Luther, a homeless man, and Sam’s relationship with his friends.

The narrative leaves little room for audiences to have any emotional connection to the characters. The film could have benefited from a more balanced exploration of personal relationships and the emotional toll of the catastrophe.

Not much transpires between the characters being overshadowed by the disaster situations. Some credits include Sela Ward, Dash Mihok, Glenn Plummer, Arjay Smith, and an ensemble of panicked people running frantically from the chaos.

A total of 1,000 digital artists spent incredible hours on the visual effects, taking a year to finish. The cinematography is also stunning, incorporating lifelike CGI. Destroying cities, like New York with a gigantic wave flooding the city, ice age snow storms, and hail the size of rocks, Roland Emmerich skillfully captures catastrophic weather.

The Day After Tomorrow falls short in certain areas, but it is a gripping and visually stunning portrayal of drastic climate change. One of the most epic scenes is the triple tornado destroying cities in L.A. I remember the first time I watched this film I was on the edge of my seat when the wave destroyed New York City as the main characters ran for their lives.

In 2008, The Day After Tomorrow was listed in the Top 10 Scientifically Inaccurate Movies. The film may not have been a hit among scientists, but audiences enjoyed the epic disaster film, being recognized as the 6th top-grossing film of 2004.

The film's greatest strength lies in its visual depiction of the destructive power of nature. I have never been a fan of science, but this movie is the best example if we ignore theories about climate change. Look after the environment.

Scientists have already debunked this movie for its inaccurate portrayals but if you are a fan of the disaster genre, The Day After Tomorrow is the film for you. Find it on Hulu.