But, I said it was a film of two halves, and the second half is where all the flaws creep in. In the fast paced build-up to
the main event the rather thinly sketched, stereotypical characters are not too much of a problem, however, afterwards they
become a very big problem. Apart from Quaid, Rossum, Gyllenhaal and Holm, none of the actors are really given much scope to
develop the roles outside of their stock beginnings. This might be a good thing though, as when they are fleshed out the
result is usually less than good.
It seems Emmerich knows he’s producing a cynical event movie and throws every cheap clichéd character into the mix in an
effort to drum up some kind of audience empathy. He fails… These calculated attempts, by Emmerich and co, to tug the
heartstrings become laughable in their obviousness and only result in further alienating the audience. They scale from ‘the
lovable homeless guy with a cute dog,’ all the way down the manipulative scale, to the ‘seriously sick bedridden kid with no
parents!’ Since we’re talking about stereotypes here, I may as well mention that the British characters have an unhealthy
obsession with ‘Tea and Biscuits,’ once again showing Roland
(The Patriot)
Emmerich's fine grasp of the English psyche.
Emmerich has said in an interview, "In many ways, the movie’s a testament to the people of New York, who survived
September 11 and survive this." So please be prepared to see character conflicts (both spoken and unspoken) resolved in the
most saccharine way possible, even when it really hurts the movie. A genuinely sweet burgeoning romance between Gyllenhaal
and Rossum quickly turns into a love triangle, but is then resolved in a wholly unsatisfactory way in order to make one of
the participants more likeable. This detracts from the eventual outcome because the conflict is never really won, only by
default. There’s another really manipulative scene when the plucky homeless guy shows the rich kid how to insulate himself
with paper… No, I’m being too cynical here. It’s not manipulative. It’s beautiful. Wordless gratitude and newfound respect
passes between them, years of conditioned mistrust due to different social and economic strata are cast aside in an instant,
because we are all one after a disaster… Eeeuuggghh!
Even though this film is little more than a cheap excuse to destroy stuff and a repository for every cliché and hackneyed
plot device going, I still find it hard to dislike it. What you’ll get out of it depends on what you’re expecting going in.
If you’re looking for a good time and an opportunity to shut off the old brain for a couple of hours then you should enjoy
this film… If you’re looking for anything more challenging or worthy, then this will likely be the filmic equivalent of Water
Torture, so, all I can say is caveat emptor.
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