Wednesday, August 18, 2004

 

Movie: Day After Tomorrow (spoiler)

cover Even if I hadn't already known, I would have guessed by watching this movie that either the director or screenwriter, or both, had been heavily involved with Independence Day (the movie where Will Smith smacks some alien butt --- wait, there are two of those -- it's the one that happens on the 4th of July).

Premise:
It's ok for people who were really into Independence Day, and the weather was kind of cool. It had a LOT of holes :

  • Dennis Quaid, who plays the father, treks to New York from halfway between Washington DC and NYC? In snowshoes, and what is supposedly WAY sub-zero temperatures? Excusez moi?
  • His courageous doctor-wife who stays behind for a sick kid who can't be moved until the emergency services come (if they come at all). Heartwarming, but not if it seems pointless. There just doesn't seem to be a benefit in her staying. The kid's asleep and it's not as if they would normally have a 24-7 bedside watcher.
  • The superfast rate of freezing (within seconds)
  • The open chimney in the library -- the librarian said it hadn't been used for years, so the flume should have been shut off a long time ago, otherwise they would've had major dirt and wet problems whenever it rained or snow melted.
  • Jake Gyllenhal, who plays the kid, seems pretty blah here. And his budding romance with his teammate is not very electric.
  • What I liked: The vice-president; everyone says he's probably modeled on Dick Cheney, the real-life American VP, but he actually seems like a normal guy who realizes and admits when he's right (true, it took the entire U.S. getting frozen over to do this, but come on, would YOU believe a crazy meteorologist who says we're going to be in a new ice age in a few weeks?)

    Recommended: Yes


    Comments:
    Just a small point: in Siberia, if you take a kettle full of boiling water off the fire, stand up and then pour it to the ground straight away, the water turns to ice before it hits the ground. That might help you overcome the disbelief factor...
     
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