With everything my wife and I have going on in our life, an evening at the movies is like a weekend trip to the Caribbean. So, for our second anniversary the other day, we chose to see a movie by ourselves. After looking over the options, we picked The Day After Tomorrow, partially because my wife really wanted to see it and if not that, i would have been forced to see Raising Helen. I pretty much detest Roland Emmerich, but seeing as how it was our anniversary and a chance to spend two quiet hours with my wife, i would suck it up and see the movie without complaining. My wife, loving me as much as she does, politely chuckled and put up with every gripe I had throughout the movie...and I thank her for showing her love in that fashion.
On to the trailers with my quick opinions:
The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black was badass and i hope this is as well. The previews did leave me with the impression that the plot may be bigger than the movie can handle. Thandie Newton - ooh la la (Dear, I didn't say that)
Alexander: It's Oliver Stone so of course I am curious what conspiracy lies behind the conquests of Alexander. Colin Ferrell looks extremely gay, but he's cool.
Open Water: This preview terrifies me. This could possibly be the scariest movie I ever see based on my fear of being in water where I cannot see the bottom. Definitely a must see.
Dodgeball: Throwing this up against Anchorman for funniest movie of the summer, and knowing that one will be a letdown...i'm going to put my money on Dodgeball being the loser. I'll still see it though.
King Arthur: I've not been that interested in this movie until I saw the scene of Keira Knightley in that bizarre medieval halter-top on the battlefield. I'll be seeing this movie now.
I, Robot: This movie will most likely be predictable, but I have a hard time not enjoying Will Smith in every movie, even if it is as boring as Men in Black II.
We'll get started with the movie review after a quick statement: I think of Emmerich's movies as a vehicle for him to live out his fantasies. In each movie, he envisions himself the hero and so everything must fall perfectly into place for him to succeed.
General premise of The Day After Tomorrow: Roland Emmerich has a dream where he's starring in one of his movies as Jack Hall, played by Dennis Quaid. Hall discovers that the way we treat the earth will one day, not in our lifetime, cause the North Atlantic drift to alter, disrupting the saltwater/freshwater balance, causing drastic weather changes and ushering in the next ice age. Our vice president, who is obviously modeled after Cheney, refuses to hear the threat or that our government should start planning emergency action.
Surprisingly, his discovery comes true within days of his announcement. Bad shit starts happening all over the world, but mostly just in Scotland, Los Angeles and New York. Los Angeles is ripped apart by tornadoes, New York is flooded (Jack's son is conveniently in NY), and Scotland freezes in -150 degree temperatures. Now the president, George Bush as played by Perry King of Riptide fame, is willing to hear Jack's theory. After a quick discussion, the President announces that everyone in the southern states will be evacuated to Mexico; it is too late to evacuate the Northern States. Their chances of survival are better if they dig in and wait it out. Everyone starts evacuating and Jack with two of his colleagues leave for NY to save his son, who is holed up in a library with some friends and a few expendable people.
I'm sure you will be surprised to find out that Jack and one of the colleagues makes it to NY, the other third had to sacrifice his life so the other two could continue. They find his son, the Vice President turned President sends a rescue squad to pick them up, and as they are leaving they see more and more people emerge from frozen buildings and helicopters picking them up. The movie ends with astronauts talking about how clear the air suddenly is as seen from the space station and the president makes a weak speech about taking care of mother earth. Unfortunately, for Independence Day fans, this speech is nowhere near the caliber of the one Bill Pullman gives. I was sorely disappointed. I think of that speech as one of the worse moments in cinema and really hoped that Emmerich would be able to top himself. Maybe next time.
Highlights of the movie:
- The storm's special effects are great eye candy.
- A joke about everyone in America illegally crossing the Rio Grande into Mexico.
- Tamyln Tomita, better known as the hot girl from Karate Kid II, is in the movie.
The "WTF" moments of the movie:
- A large Russian tanker that appears to be abandoned, steers it's way up a downtown Manhattan street flooded with about 40 feet of water. It doesn't bump into a single building, it's not stopped by any of the cars under the water, but one of many busses causes it to stop. It's a good thing it stops right in front of the library because it has medicine that the son is going to need later to save his girlfriend.
- Timber wolves escape the zoo when it floods, manage to survive the flood, come out when it is save and travel across the frozen streets of NY to the above mentioned ship to search for food. They are CGI and look less like timber wolves and more like demonic hell wolves.
