Film reviews

The Day After Tomorrow, Dir; Roland Emmerich, Cert; 12A

Take a theory on the effects of global warming, add a dash of political commentary regarding the US Governments refusal to sign the Kyoto accords and mix it all up in a story by the director of Independence Day, along with a very large FX budget and what do you have?

Well, the short answer is "The first of the summer blockbusters", however a more reasoned response would be "A thin veneer of a story to link a lot of special effects".

Dennis Quaid plays an American climatologist trying to raise awareness of the possible disastrous effects of global warming at an international convention in New Delhi. After locking horns with the US vice-president, and losing, he meets an English scientist (Ian Holm) who shares his concerns and alerts him to the imminent on set of his fears.

Meanwhile Quaids son (Jake Gyllenhall) is on a school trip to New York, where he becomes stuck with the on set of a little rain, some snow and a tidal surge followed by a bit of a cold snap.... Cue the devoted fathers pledge to rescue his son - "I made him a promise and I intend to keep it!", the stoic British scientists who, having alerted the hero to the impending crisis, are left to freeze to death with a bottle of 12yr old Balvennie Malt (I'm hoping for a sample from the distillery for product identification and placement within this review!!), Mexico closing its borders to American immigrants and "Will he/ won't he survive" drama of the token ill child. Talking of tokens, there's the token old couple, a token street bum and a token dialogue shared amongst the whole cast!

If you take this film with a pinch of salt (or sugar depending on your popcorn preference) then it's quite an enjoyable diversion, a bit like the good old fashioned Saturday morning matinees where you'd shout at the screen to try and get the characters to see sense.

Ignore the plot holes and the dire dialogue, ignore that Emmerich only included Brits so he could kill them off in a fit of revenge for the panning The Patriot received, and ignore the abysmal geography (for someone who's destroyed New York at least 3 times now he should know it's layout in relation to the rest of the USA!) and that there's nowhere south of the equator. If you can do the above then you should enjoy this film - I certainly did, but perhaps not on the manner the director intended.

(Samples of Balvennie Doublewood 12yr old Malt will be greatfully accepted!) - Competition

K. Soze

Odeon Online