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July 29, 2004 INTRODUCTION In The Day After Tomorrow, we meet brilliant climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), who, after a scary opening scene where the ice in the North Pole cracks into two, warns that if humans continue to be not environmental-friendly, the greenhouse effect will eventually cause Earth to enter a new Ice Age decades later. Unfortunately, a lot of people ignore him. Meanwhile, Jack’s son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), goes to New York with his schoolmates for a knowledge competition. In all of a sudden, the thing Jack had predicted becomes true - but much earlier. The weather starts to turn instable all around the world. After tornadoes in Los Angeles and huge ice blocks dropping from the sky in Tokyo, an enormous flood succumbs New York, and eventually, the water freezes into snow. Fortunately, Sam and his classmates and some other citizens survive in a public library. But Jack is worried about his son and decides to go to New York to rescue him... This is director Roland Emmerich's first disaster film since 1996's Independence Day. REVIEW The first thing I want to say about The Day After Tomorrow is that the special effects are jaw-dropping. It looks like real. It seems that New York is truly being flooded by a huge wave, and in the end covered with snow. The triple tornadoes in Los Angeles were equally believable. I really have to see what other movie can beat it from getting a Best Visual Effects Oscar. The only thing I have to complain about is that the CGI wolves looked very fake, but never mind considering their little screen time. Films like Tomorrow are usually strong in visual effects and weak in storyline, but this movie was quite a surprise.The storyline wasn’t strong, but not too weak, something making it stand out from the many disaster films. Tomorrow deals with matters such as love and the environment. The part where Jack sets out to save his son is really touching, and Sam has romantic affairs with his beautiful schoolmate, played by Emmy Rossum. The film also gives a strong message that we have to care for the environment, or in the end the ones who suffer will be ourselves. Unfortunately, Tomorrow has its flaws. I had a feeling that besides the short sequence in Tokyo, it mainly focused on weather changes in America, and not in other parts of the world. Some parts were not logical, such as walking from Philadelphia to New York; and the ending was not too satisfactory. Nevertheless, it’s still more than you expect from a disaster movie. Overall, I recommend The Day After Tomorrow. It’s one of the best disaster flicks I’ve ever seen and the special effects are amazing. The side effect is that you might be worrying about the weather after you’ve seen it.
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