"Independence Day: Resurgence" Review

What is the acceptable time gap between movies in a franchise? Nowadays, pretty much every movie is going to have a sequel churned out, normally within 2 to 3 years, so that it isn't too rushed, but isn't too late that audiences have forgotten about the first movie and still care about the franchise. The only time that the gap tends to be smaller and results aren't terrible is when the movies are filmed back-to-back as part of a trilogy or a similar set of movies. Anything released later tends to receive criticism for having come too late, although it many not necessarily be bad. With that said, here we are with a sequel to the iconic "Independence Day," 20 years after the release of the original. Clearly 20th Century Fox thought that they could pull off this revival of the franchise based entirely on love and nostalgia for the original movie. However, while I enjoy Independence Day and all of it's fun, over-the-top 90s action, that is not going to stop me pointing out all of the problems with "Independence Day: Resurgence" and how it is undoubtedly one of the most disappointing movies of the year so far.


The plot of this movie takes place 20 years after the events of the original movie, with Earth having advanced all of our technology through the use of the alien weaponry and ships used in their attempted invasion of the planet. However, now they're back and ready to continue what they (apparently) started. Look, I understand that it's incredibly difficult, if even possible anymore, to come up with a completely original plot for a movie nowadays. However, that does not mean I am going to forgive filmmakers for pretty much making the exact same movie as the first one. Besides a couple of additions regarding the actual goals of the aliens and some laughable attempts to expand this universe, there is very little innovation to be found here. No spoilers here obviously, but characters even begin to talk about how their plan and how the movie will inevitably end is exactly the same as the first movie in the second act.

The writing in the movie is unbearably bad as well. I know it's a big, dumb sci-fi movie and the suspension of disbelief is required but this can only go so far. The movie consistently breaks it's own logic and makes absolutely no sense. Not only that, but the character dynamics in the movie are not very believable or realistic, particularly the relationship between Liam Hemsworth's Jake and Jessie Usher's Dylan. The movie attempts to build tension between the two throughout the movie due to a past accident. However, this is a cringeworthy subplot in the movie which makes no sense considering the apparently once close friendship between the two. Throughout the movie, I found it unbelievable that once of the characters would not simply just apologise and, if he did, the other was being pretty petty and unreasonable. However, of all the writing, the worst comes towards the close of the movie, where another movie is set up in a shameful and embarrassing manner. The movie is more concerned with setting up the rest of this cinematic universe for the future and the next movies for this series. It's a shame that after seeing this one, I don't want to see them.

I just briefly mentioned the characters in the movie, and they are a mixed bag. many characters return from the original movie, and they are the best characters here. Jeff Goldblum is doing his best as David Levinson, reprising his role from the original movie, and is one of the few characters to actually inject some personality into his character. It's true that Goldblum has become a bit of a running joke on the Internet in the past few years, with many poking fun at his "ums" and "ooms" in the middle of lines. However, that is exactly what gives the character his likeable and more believable personality. Bill Pullman also does a good job as former President Thomas Whitmore. Although he unfortunately doesn't get to deliver his rousing speech from the original movie, Pullman delivers an emotional and hard-hitting performance as the character is now facing PTSD due to his past experiences. However, besides these two, the returning characters are simply annoying, particularly Brent Spiner's Dr. Brakish Okun. The character is devised to be the comic relief for the majority of the movie but his over-the-top nature just left me wishing for him to be removed from scenes entirely. Another subplot revolves around Judd Hirsch's Julius Levinson character, and it simply another distraction to add more and more characters to the already bloated roster. From that list, who's the one character from the original movie who I haven't mentioned? Will Smith's Steven Hiller. The character is not just gone from the movie without a cameo, but he is shamefully killed off-screen, taking away all hopes for him to make a return in the inevitable third movie. 

However, since this is 20 years later, we do need some new actors and faces added to the cast, but there are far too many to keep track of. It doesn't help that most of them are unlikable as well. The one exception to this is Maika Munroe, who plays Patricia Whitmore, the daughter of Bill Pullman's character. Monroe is great in the movie and has some particularly great moments with her character's father. Everyone else, on the other hand: dull. Jessie Usher's Dylan (meant to be the son of Will Smith's original hero) is terribly written and incredibly boring. Liam Hemsworth's Jake is your generic, witty hero character. There's also the stereotypical Chinese pilot, the wacky sidekick struggling to talk to a girl, a pointless female scientist to work with Jeff Goldblum, and yet another irritating comic relief character. The worst offenders are the ones who are actually set up for some proper development. For example, take Deobia Oparei's African warlord. Initially set up to be an interesting character with an emotional backstroke relating to the aliens, any backstory established early on is forgotten about and never mentioned again.

Look, chances are that the biggest selling point on this movie for a lot of people was the massive set pieces and over-the-top action that has been showcased in the trailers and is a staple of director Roland Emmerich's works. However, despite Jeff Goldblum's character stating that the aliens "love to get the landmarks," you might be surprised that nothing quite matches the spectacle of the White House being destroyed in the original movie. The only thing that comes relatively close is the destruction of London early on, but even then disaster movie fans are destined to be disappointed by the lack of huge, city-crushing set pieces on show here. However, that's not to say that some of the action that is included in the movie is impressive nonetheless. Some of the dogfight sequences in particular using the jets that have been advanced with alien technology. It's not that the action of the movie isn't dumb fun, but it's strange that the action isn't as large-scale or world crushing, despite this movie's $165 million budget as opposed to the original's $75 million.

However, hands down the best part of the movie is the visual effects and spectacle provided throughout the runtime. These visuals are phenomenal and deserve to be commended. The shots of the moon base, and the action sequences (which involve far more green screen and alien weaponry this time round), are all fantastic and never break the audience's immersion. In fact, all of the technical aspects of the movie are on point, with the cinematography and sound design also being worthy of a mention. Most of Roland Emmerich's movies succeed in these departments, and it's good to see that he has managed to at least succeed in these aspects with "Resurgence."

I am a huge sci-fi fan, and the original Independence Day is one of the classic alien invasion movies of the 1990s. That's why it makes me very upset to have to say that "Independence Day: Resurgence" is a colossal disappointment and is not a good movie. Although there are some good performances scattered throughout the movie and some spectacular effects work, there is simply too much wrong here to forgive and give a passing score. A plot that makes absolutely no sense and repeats what we've seen before, an over-abundance of characters to handle with barely any of them being sufficiently developed, and not enough massive action sequences that were promised in the trailer. These are all problems present throughout "Resurgence." If you only go to see a movie for mindless action and don't want to think at all, then you might have some fun with this one. However, if you care about watching a movie with good characters and a logical story, give this one a miss.

Pros

• Impressive effects
• Some good performances

Cons

• Terrible characterisation
• Way too many characters for its own good
• Does nothing original
• Unforgivable logic errors
• One of the worst and most sequel-baiting endings in recent memory
• Surprising lack of large-scale set pieces

Rating: 3/10

Release Date: 23rd June, 2016

Starring Jeff Goldblum, Liam Hemsworth, Bill Pullman, Maika Munroe, Jessie Usher, Sela Ward, William Fichtner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner