Let me start off by saying going into this movie I absolutely loved and grew up watching the first Independence Day as a kid growing up in the 1990's. I remember the first time I became aware of the movie's existence when my mother took me to KB Toys and I saw the action figures for the first movie which looked pretty badass for their time. I bought the Will Smith action figure along with one of the alien action figures as a kid. I saw commercials for the movie that summer and watched it on VHS when it came out on home video. I thought it was just about one of the most incredible things I've ever seen growing up as a kid and watched it hundreds of times, even going as far as buying the special edition DVD. Growing up, I always imagined that someday they'd make a sequel to the first film especially when I heard rumors of it in the early 2000's but it never materialized. When they officially announced the sequel in 2014, I was skeptical about it because of the lack of Will Smith's involvement in the sequel. When I saw the first trailer for it that premiered with Star Wars: Force Awakens, I got excited especially when they threw in President Whitmore's speech from the first movie into the mix. A speech that still gives me chills to this day, I was instantly hooked with this sequel following it's production and marketing closely. I felt the studio made a terrible mistake holding the film back from critics prior to its release because it gave audiences the impression they knew they had a flop on their hands and didn't believe in the movie. I felt regardless of the films quality, they should've marketed the movie to the max given the history of this film and what it's a sequel to. A sequel to Independence Day should be huge and a film that moviegoers of all walks of life should line up to see. A lot of horrible things have been said about this sequel since it's been released with the majority of the public denouncing it as not only an unnecessary sequel to the original film but a poor cash in of people's nostalgia of all the years of watching the original. While Resurgence is far from being a perfect movie, it honestly isn't the train wreck that many people make it out to be, and is actually an entertaining movie.
Independence Day Resurgence is the type of film in which you don't go into it expecting rocket science or an Oscar bait film like Gosford Park, but you go for the ride essentially. For two hours you go into this movie and shut your brain off to all it's plot holes and logical gaps to have a great time with all the destruction and mayhem. The first Independence Day worked because it was essentially the ideal popcorn movie with great special effects that were a technological breakthrough for the time they were created, strong and believable performances from it's main actors such as Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum with Bill Pullmans famous 4th Of July speech still delivering chills to this day, and the filmmakers essentially owning an already established alien invasion theme that was done before previously but not on the kind of grand epic scope that both films directors Roland Emmerich and Dean Delvin brought to the first film. The original still holds up to this day as being one of the greatest disaster films of all time as well as one of the defining movies of the 1990s. Perhaps the sequel never had any chance of equaling that success especially with the omission of Will Smith, perhaps expectations placed upon it were too high as audiences wanted the exact same thing they got 20 years prior without realizing that was never gonna happen as both movies are different look and feel wise, but that doesn't mean it has no shot of still being a good movie on it's own right. Resurgence is a movie that understands very well that type of film it is and makes no effort to become anything greater than being just a popcorn blockbuster that delivers some good old fashioned alien invasion nostalgia from the 1990's. The film holds no greater crime than being just as silly and over the top as it's predecessor but somehow it's deemed to be an insult to audiences and cinema itself. That statement is simply false as the film is a visual feast that should be seen on the big screen to witness it's scope while providing strong nostalgic connections to the first movie. It can be argues that the newer characters while they look appealing are rather cardboard and poorly developed such as Liam Hemsworth's character whose obviously the replacement for Will Smith in this installment. While Hemsworth doesn't deliver a bad performance, his character simply isn't as compelling nor as engaging as Smith's character and neither is Dylan Hiller, the son of Will Smith's character Captain Stephen Hiller. While it's interesting that the filmmakers chose to tell the story of the sequel through the lenses of Hiller's son, his character doesn't give us the feeling that he's truly hurt by the death of his father and his mother played by Vivica A. Fox isn't given enough material to make us believe she's his coach in regards to carrying on his father's legacy. In more blatant terms, the newer characters come across as being rather flat in comparison to the older characters we've grown to love and respect over the last 20 years. They are serviceable characters in the end but not people you go home and still be thinking about long after the film is over, not like someone of Bill Pullmans characters caliber (He makes a great president). Subplots involving a romance between an American pilot and a beautiful Chinese female pilot as well as the relationship between her and her father isn't fully fleshed out enough to make us genuinely care about them. Even the heavily publicized female president played by Sela Ward comes off as being interesting but her character isn't fully fleshed out to give her a chance at being as great of a Presidential figure as Bill Pullman's President Whitmore in the first film. The latter is brought back into this movie as a more broken down figure from where we left him at with the aliens haunting his dreams and sending him messages of their return. Pullman brings his A game back to the role that made him an iconic figure but his character is limited by plot constraints. Maika Monroe plays the President's now grown up daughter seen previously as a child in the first movie as the person taking care of the older Whitmore as well as providing a love interest for Hemsworth's character, the only problem is the latter is never fully fleshed out to make us truly care. Jeff Goldblum returns and is easily the film's main highlight as he brings his nerdy yet witty persona back to the role of David Levinson, showing the audience where his character ended up 20 years later along with his never aging father played equally great by Judd Hirsch. Perhaps the most surprising reprisal of a character from the first film is Brent Spiner's Dr. Okun from the first Independence Day which many fans of the first movie presumed to be dead. His return in the sequel is more than welcome as he is both hilarious and one of the film's main strengths with an intriguing plot twist to his character regarding his sexual orientation. Okun like Pullmans character. both experience visions and codes that signify the return of the aliens from the previous film and both inform the new set of characters of what's coming. The arrival of the aliens is much quicker and swift than what was shown in the 1996 movie with the ships being much bigger and the chaos being equally as exciting and affective, even though the true suspense of their arrival is missing from this movie
Independence Day Resurgence is the type of film in which you don't go into it expecting rocket science or an Oscar bait film like Gosford Park, but you go for the ride essentially. For two hours you go into this movie and shut your brain off to all it's plot holes and logical gaps to have a great time with all the destruction and mayhem. The first Independence Day worked because it was essentially the ideal popcorn movie with great special effects that were a technological breakthrough for the time they were created, strong and believable performances from it's main actors such as Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum with Bill Pullmans famous 4th Of July speech still delivering chills to this day, and the filmmakers essentially owning an already established alien invasion theme that was done before previously but not on the kind of grand epic scope that both films directors Roland Emmerich and Dean Delvin brought to the first film. The original still holds up to this day as being one of the greatest disaster films of all time as well as one of the defining movies of the 1990s. Perhaps the sequel never had any chance of equaling that success especially with the omission of Will Smith, perhaps expectations placed upon it were too high as audiences wanted the exact same thing they got 20 years prior without realizing that was never gonna happen as both movies are different look and feel wise, but that doesn't mean it has no shot of still being a good movie on it's own right. Resurgence is a movie that understands very well that type of film it is and makes no effort to become anything greater than being just a popcorn blockbuster that delivers some good old fashioned alien invasion nostalgia from the 1990's. The film holds no greater crime than being just as silly and over the top as it's predecessor but somehow it's deemed to be an insult to audiences and cinema itself. That statement is simply false as the film is a visual feast that should be seen on the big screen to witness it's scope while providing strong nostalgic connections to the first movie. It can be argues that the newer characters while they look appealing are rather cardboard and poorly developed such as Liam Hemsworth's character whose obviously the replacement for Will Smith in this installment. While Hemsworth doesn't deliver a bad performance, his character simply isn't as compelling nor as engaging as Smith's character and neither is Dylan Hiller, the son of Will Smith's character Captain Stephen Hiller. While it's interesting that the filmmakers chose to tell the story of the sequel through the lenses of Hiller's son, his character doesn't give us the feeling that he's truly hurt by the death of his father and his mother played by Vivica A. Fox isn't given enough material to make us believe she's his coach in regards to carrying on his father's legacy. In more blatant terms, the newer characters come across as being rather flat in comparison to the older characters we've grown to love and respect over the last 20 years. They are serviceable characters in the end but not people you go home and still be thinking about long after the film is over, not like someone of Bill Pullmans characters caliber (He makes a great president). Subplots involving a romance between an American pilot and a beautiful Chinese female pilot as well as the relationship between her and her father isn't fully fleshed out enough to make us genuinely care about them. Even the heavily publicized female president played by Sela Ward comes off as being interesting but her character isn't fully fleshed out to give her a chance at being as great of a Presidential figure as Bill Pullman's President Whitmore in the first film. The latter is brought back into this movie as a more broken down figure from where we left him at with the aliens haunting his dreams and sending him messages of their return. Pullman brings his A game back to the role that made him an iconic figure but his character is limited by plot constraints. Maika Monroe plays the President's now grown up daughter seen previously as a child in the first movie as the person taking care of the older Whitmore as well as providing a love interest for Hemsworth's character, the only problem is the latter is never fully fleshed out to make us truly care. Jeff Goldblum returns and is easily the film's main highlight as he brings his nerdy yet witty persona back to the role of David Levinson, showing the audience where his character ended up 20 years later along with his never aging father played equally great by Judd Hirsch. Perhaps the most surprising reprisal of a character from the first film is Brent Spiner's Dr. Okun from the first Independence Day which many fans of the first movie presumed to be dead. His return in the sequel is more than welcome as he is both hilarious and one of the film's main strengths with an intriguing plot twist to his character regarding his sexual orientation. Okun like Pullmans character. both experience visions and codes that signify the return of the aliens from the previous film and both inform the new set of characters of what's coming. The arrival of the aliens is much quicker and swift than what was shown in the 1996 movie with the ships being much bigger and the chaos being equally as exciting and affective, even though the true suspense of their arrival is missing from this movie
Wherea's Independence Day Resurgence doesn't exactly contain the same amount of heart the first movie had, it still has moments that make us care for the safety of the older characters especially Judd Hirsch's character when he first see's the aliens arrival while riding his boat in the ocean or Vivica A Fox's character. The aliens from the first movie make their return here and look as badass as ever, even being shown getting in on the action outside of being locked in their spacecrafts. The climactic battle with the alien queen herself is one of the film's main highlights with the queen's appearance being so effective you become instantly mad that the studio failed to generate action figures for her character and the rest of the movie's cast and spacecrafts. Another main problem the film contained which explains some of the key issues of the film such as the newer characters being underdeveloped, is the pacing of the film which moves rather fast and doesn't take as much time developing the newer characters and plot like the original 2.5 hour movie did. One almost wonders if it was the studio's doing that forced Emmerich to cut the movie down to 2 hours instead of the rumored 150 minute time but whatever the reason is, the movie ended up being too short and needed more time to grow and develop.
While it may seem that this reviewer didn't enjoy the film, that's not the case as the film ultimately is a fun ride in theaters but one can't help but feel the movie should've been bigger and better both financially and quality wise. Independence Day Resurgence is a movie that gets far too much bashing than it deserves but it still manages to be a decent way to kill two hours with Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Brent Spiner, Roland Emmerich, and Dean Delvin doing what they do best. The film was never mean't to be anything more than a nostalgic piece that reminds viewers of the awesomeness they received 20 years prior but also a passing of the torch to a new generation by reintroducing the story with the same characters now older and wiser looking over the new generation of characters. The technological aspect of the film remains the prime reason to see it in theaters as both that aspect of it and the return of several key characters carry the film as the newer characters suffer from either having their proper character development time cut out of the movie or just being poorly written. While one understands the rift between Jesse Usher's character and Liam Hemsworth's in the movie, one feels that it wasn't a logical reason for their grudge and it would've been more powerful to have Hiller's son be mad at Hemsworth's character because he accidentally got his father killed. Now THAT would've been a way more dramatic approach than a silly rift between the two because one almost got the other killed accidentally. In conclusion, Resurgence is a decent popcorn summer blockbuster that deserves a chance to succeed and be seen on the big screen but it also possesses several key flaws such as rushed pacing, lack of strong character development with newer characters, and weaker writing than the previous film that holds it back from being as good or better than the 1996 landmark blockbuster classic. Is the movie perfect? No, not at all. Is it the worst movie of the summer thus far? No way, that title proudly goes to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows. Does the movie satisfy as a reasonable piece of entertainment and a decent sequel to the first film? Yes, the movie is a fun rollercoaster ride and feels like a solid part ll to the first film even if Will Smith's presence was missed here (His character was killed off due to the actors failure to return). As entertaining as this sequel is, one feels that it wasn't a sequel that needed to take 20 years to make as such a wait leaves you with wanting more which the end of the film promises by setting up a third film regarding intergalactic war on the basis that this one does well enough to secure another chapter. With the way this movies been received and performing since it's release domestically, that promise is looking more like a pipe dream now. Independence Day Resurgence is clearly not everyone's cup of tea but it's far from being the disaster many critics and audience members portray it as being. The spectacle of the film is worth seeing on the big screen but only on the condition that one essentially shuts off their brain and goes along for the ride.
7.5/10
While it may seem that this reviewer didn't enjoy the film, that's not the case as the film ultimately is a fun ride in theaters but one can't help but feel the movie should've been bigger and better both financially and quality wise. Independence Day Resurgence is a movie that gets far too much bashing than it deserves but it still manages to be a decent way to kill two hours with Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Brent Spiner, Roland Emmerich, and Dean Delvin doing what they do best. The film was never mean't to be anything more than a nostalgic piece that reminds viewers of the awesomeness they received 20 years prior but also a passing of the torch to a new generation by reintroducing the story with the same characters now older and wiser looking over the new generation of characters. The technological aspect of the film remains the prime reason to see it in theaters as both that aspect of it and the return of several key characters carry the film as the newer characters suffer from either having their proper character development time cut out of the movie or just being poorly written. While one understands the rift between Jesse Usher's character and Liam Hemsworth's in the movie, one feels that it wasn't a logical reason for their grudge and it would've been more powerful to have Hiller's son be mad at Hemsworth's character because he accidentally got his father killed. Now THAT would've been a way more dramatic approach than a silly rift between the two because one almost got the other killed accidentally. In conclusion, Resurgence is a decent popcorn summer blockbuster that deserves a chance to succeed and be seen on the big screen but it also possesses several key flaws such as rushed pacing, lack of strong character development with newer characters, and weaker writing than the previous film that holds it back from being as good or better than the 1996 landmark blockbuster classic. Is the movie perfect? No, not at all. Is it the worst movie of the summer thus far? No way, that title proudly goes to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows. Does the movie satisfy as a reasonable piece of entertainment and a decent sequel to the first film? Yes, the movie is a fun rollercoaster ride and feels like a solid part ll to the first film even if Will Smith's presence was missed here (His character was killed off due to the actors failure to return). As entertaining as this sequel is, one feels that it wasn't a sequel that needed to take 20 years to make as such a wait leaves you with wanting more which the end of the film promises by setting up a third film regarding intergalactic war on the basis that this one does well enough to secure another chapter. With the way this movies been received and performing since it's release domestically, that promise is looking more like a pipe dream now. Independence Day Resurgence is clearly not everyone's cup of tea but it's far from being the disaster many critics and audience members portray it as being. The spectacle of the film is worth seeing on the big screen but only on the condition that one essentially shuts off their brain and goes along for the ride.
7.5/10
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