Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Independence Day: Resurgence is pretty much what I expected. Actually, given all the negative reviews floating around, it is almost better than what I expected. As is almost always the case, all the 1 and 2 star ratings and “worst movie ever” reviews are pure bullshit. The biggest advantage the original movie had was the novelty of it all. This movie is really pretty much the same except for the special effects being even bigger to the extent that they are somewhat over the top at times and the plot somewhat thinner. Having said the latter, the original movie did not really have much in terms of plot either and the nonsense of giving a totally alien computer a virus was so bad it really dragged down the movie.
In the relatively short timespan of two decades humanity have improved their technology base by several orders of magnitude (ray guns on the moon etc. etc…). The speed of improvement is of course pretty unrealistic, even with access to alien technology, but hey, I can live with that in order to increase the coolness factor of the movie.
Then comes an alien ship. Not the aliens we all expected by another one. The ship is totally different from the previous ones, do not seem aggressive but of course dumbass politicians manage to screw everything up. Fast forward a couple of scenes and the “real” aliens arrive. Of course this time they have a bigger flyswatter and they perfunctorily proceed to swat away the puny, extremely slow firing, little ray guns of the humans and we are back to where we started in the original movie. Huge space ship parks on Earth, time for plan B.
Well there were quite a few scenes of big space ships, destruction and mayhem before the aliens finally manage to park their spaceship. I guess finding a parking space for a 5 000 kilometer space ship can be a bit tricky (I though I had an issue with my Jeep). Here is were I have quite some gripes about the movie. The special effects are cool, no question about it, but they are also exaggerated and throws any attempt to be remotely adhering to the laws of physics out the window. It is clear that whatever low intelligence storywriter that wrote that garbage flunked science classes in school, if he ever got that far of course. For instance, we have a 5 000 kilometer (the Earth radius is about 6 370 kilometer) that is big enough to generate its own gravity (apparently the engines somehow contributed to this) flies in and lands on earth. When it approaches items on the surface, cars, trains, ships, skyscrapers and bits and pieces of the Earth itself starts to fly upwards. It makes for cool effects but anyone with a mediocrum of intelligence ought to realize that such a force would actually destabilize Earth itself. Possibly change the speed of rotation as well as the orbit around the sun.
The story is full of other typical Hollywood stupidities and plot holes. Christ even my kids could spot the plot holes which were often big enough to drive a battleship through!
As for the acting. Well, I would say there is not too much to say about it. Most of the main actors managed to make it through the movie without screwing up too badly. Given that it was not the deepest or thought provoking movie one could imagine I would say that was good enough. The best character in my opinion was Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson. The worst one was probably Dr. Okun. Not that Brent Spiner was making a bad job of representing him but the character was just to crazed out for my taste.
Okay, I will stop whining now. This movie was pretty much exactly what I expected. Great special effects tied together with a paper thin story. I went into it hoping that the effects were going to be good with little expectations on the rest and that is exactly what I got. The movie fulfilled my expectations completely and thus I consider it worth 7 out of 10 stars. I enjoyed the two hours watching it.

Independence Day: Resurgence makes a bold attempt to follow up on the legacy of its iconic predecessor, but it falls short in many areas. Liam Hemsworth delivers a solid performance, but the script doesn’t give him much to work with, leaving his character feeling shallow and unmemorable. The story itself is straightforward and predictable, offering little in terms of surprises or emotional engagement. Attempts at humor and drama sometimes feel forced, detracting from the overall experience.
While Roland Emmerich's direction keeps the film moving at a brisk pace, it often prioritizes spectacle over substance. The visuals work well enough to support the story, but they don’t push any boundaries, especially for a film released in 2016. Given the advancements in CGI and visual effects by that time, the production feels like a missed opportunity to deliver something truly jaw-dropping. Instead, it’s serviceable, doing just enough to convey the futuristic and alien elements but lacking the wow factor that could have elevated the experience.
In the end, Independence Day: Resurgence is a decent popcorn flick for fans of sci-fi action, but it doesn’t live up to the standards set by the original. It’s fun in parts but ultimately forgettable, leaving viewers with the sense that it could have been so much more.