The Sun Won't Come Out Tomorrow...
New Disaster Flick Portrays Worst Global Warming Scenario

I love a good disaster flick. I even love bad disaster flicks. Some of my favorite over the past decade have been Twister, Volcano, and Deep Impact. This year, Roland Emmerich (who brought Earth the alien invasion to end all invasions in Independence Day) has tried to make the ultimate disaster movie combining several disasters into one. The result is The Day After Tomorrow, a super bad weather movie with outstanding special effects and a less spectacular political agenda.

The Day After Tomorrow begins quickly, with a scientist named Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) discovering indicators in Antarctica that the Earth's climate may be shifting. Global warming, he warns, may destroy the Earth. In 100 years or 1000, our grandchildren or their grandchildren will be cleaning up our problem. The United States administration (with a Vice President who clearly resembles Dick Cheney) believes that the cost to the economy imposed by "environmental restrictions" is too great.

Soon, a pattern of freak weather breaks out across the globe: snow in the India deserts, hail the size of basketballs in Japan, and tornados in Los Angeles. These glimpses of global weather anomalies do not compare with the storms brewing in Northern Canada, Ireland, and Siberia. The three storms are gigantic and soon threaten to plunge the Earth into a new ice age.

To add a touch of personal drama, Jack's son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) is in New York. Weather there has turned from bad to worse. Luckily Sam and his school chums have managed to find high ground in the New York City library. There, with other survivors of the storm, they plan to wait out the storm. Of course, Jack feels compelled to drive (and if necessary walk) from D.C. to New York to rescue his son.

The problem with The Day After Tomorrow is not in the cardboard characters, multiple unimportant (and unbelievable) storylines, or the occasional plot hole big enough to drive a truck through. I come to expect all of these in any disaster film. The biggest problems for the film were scope and purpose.

First, the film's scope was on individual people (all in North America, with the exception of a few men stuck in a weather reporting station in Ireland). It should have been examining the global reaction, global experiences, of the storm. Did the Japanese take the disaster with Eastern stoicism? What about the folks in Siberia (folks who are no strangers to cold winters)? For that matter, did Kansas residents fair better than those in Florida? What does it matter if one boy survives if the northern hemisphere is wiped out? Good science fiction is concerned with the fate of humanity, not just one person.

Second, the film had an agenda that was repeatedly stated for the audience until it became almost silly. "Global warming is bad. Republicans cause global warming. Therefore Republicans are bad. Vote for John Kerry." Egad. If anyone ever claims that Hollywood is not in the pocket of the Democratic party, they need to see this film. If The Day After Tomorrow manages to get on television during an election year, the GOP should demand two hours of rebuttal.

If there was any question to how far into left field this story is, it was answered during the credits. The film was "inspired by" The Coming Global Superstorm, written by paranormal experts Art Bell and Whitley Strieber. For those of you who don't know, Art Bell used to host a fringe radio show (known for guests from UFO experts to people who saw Bigfoot) and Whitley Strieber is a self-proclaimed UFO abductee who wrote about his experience in Communion.

The special effects were, for the most part, excellent. Nevertheless, I thought some items could have used more attention to detail. The tornado scene, for instance, did not feel like a tornadic experience. Anyone who has lived in Kansas can tell you about the color of the sky (green), the hair-raising electricity in the air, and the dark low clouds that produce twisters. The Los Angeles scene had none of that.

For all the political grandstanding and the half-baked characters, The Day After Tomorrow delivers the goods. As a disaster flick, it met but did not exceed expectations. As a fun summer blockbuster, it lacks the overall awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping experience that Emmerich gave us in Independence Day. It's good enough for an afternoon matinee, though. That's good enough for me.

MY RATING: 6 out of 10.

RATED: PG-13
RUN TIME: 124 min.