Movie Review - Independence Day: Resurgence

   I am a big fan of the original Independence Day from 1996. I saw it as a kid and I loved it. Growing up, I realized how silly and dumb it was, but I loved it just the same. It was a film that never really needed a sequel, but I guess 20 years is a fair time to wait for the nostalgia wave to wash something ashore. Case in point, Independence Day: Resurgence. Does it equal the silly funfest of its predecessor? Let's find out.

   Twenty years after the events of the first movie, humanity has risen from the ashes stronger than ever. I've got to hand it to the filmmakers here, the settings look really imaginative and creative: very different from the Earth we saw in the 1996 film. Alien technology has been used to revolutionize everyday life and world peace is now a reality – even though armed militias and warlords still exist, uh-doy! – probably because everyone in this world seems to know/be related to eachother. And if you didn't get all of this set up right away then don't worry; Resurgence clumsily explains its backstory with clunky exposition. In the first 45 minutes there are tons of lines that go like “I was the youngest valedictorian in the academy's history”, “you gave up flying to take care of me”, and “you've been in a coma for 7300 days now”. In the words of Rush, “Show me, don't tell me.”

   I'm supposed to be talking about the plot, aren't I? Anyways, aliens show up and wreck a bunch of major cities, and what's left of the US government retreats to Area 51 to lead humanity's last stand. It's a plot that's extremely similar to the first film, but with even less emotional weight. What I mean is that with the first Independence Day, the movie took its time to really build things up, to maximize the epicness and awesomeness of what was happening. Resurgence, on the other hand, seems more concerned with getting to the point and throwing some action our way. This is especially evident when characters die. For example, there's a scene in which one character sacrifices himself during a battle (in the same way that Randy Quaid did in the original), but there's hardly any emotional weight to it. What's more, his death is never mentioned again so you're pretty much guaranteed to forget about it after a few minutes. But these shortcomings are (arguably) forgivable thanks to the amazing cliffhanger ending. Don't worry, the film's story is resolved, but the cliffhanger ending outlines what'll happen in the sequel. And it does it in the most goofy, over-the-top, badass way possible. For the Independence Day series, it's perfect! Seriously, if you can find a clip of the last minute of this movie, then go watch it. That part alone is worth the price of admission.

   Now for the characters. Most of the surviving ones from the first movie are back – Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner, and Jasmine Dubrow – and they're all fun to watch. Too bad Will Smith's character died offscreen between films. Lame. The movie also tries introducing some new characters, but they're mostly colourless and have no charisma which only adds to the “why should I care?” problem. Having said that, General William Fitchner and Deobia Oparei as the badass Congolese warlord are alright.

   As was the case with the first film, this one is written and directed by Roland Emmerich, who is a lousy writer, but a capable director who makes heavy use of impressive special effects (even if it is sometimes hard to tell the good guys' and bad guys' aircraft apart). Perhaps more than the first film, Resurgence has a good amount of humour, which includes nice little references to the original.

   However, there were a few things that didn't quite make sense to me. Like, did the governments of Earth rebuild the cities that were destroyed in 1996 exactly the way they were before? It looks like it, though it's a shame that they got destroyed all over again! Also, the cities' destruction seemed a little inconsistent. For example, how did the Burj Khalifa end up getting flung all the way over to London in one piece? And if there was a hole being drilled through the ocean floor hundreds of kilometres deep, then wouldn't there be water rushing into it?

   As I've said before, the first Independence Day film is a load of mindless fun. If I had to rate it today, I'd probably give it a 3 or something. Resurgence wants to be like its predecessor (maybe a little too much), but it isn't as memorable, epic, or emotionally engrossing. There are moments of fun to be had, but the real concern here is: will you care?

Grade: two stars out of five.