Twenty years ago, the world declared in one voice, “We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish, without a fight. We’re going to live. We’re going to survive.”
Ok, so maybe the world didn’t really, and it was just a movie. But it was a movie, that while being a cheesy, aliens attack the planet type movie, it had heart. It had charisma. Now, twenty years later, we have the sequel that no one asked for, and no one really wanted. I can only speak for myself, but a sequel to Independence Day was not even in my mind after watching it (nor the several dozen times I’ve watched it on bluray\DVD since).
However, I watched the trailers. I waited for the release date, eagerly excited to see where they would take it. To say it was disappointing doesn’t really explain how you feel after this movie. For anyone that hasn’t seen it, you can stop here if you want. This is where I will start to provide spoilers, as there is no real way I can explain the issues with this movie without spoiling.
The movie starts out pretty straight-forward. The establishment of the characters from the previous film, as well as, introducing the new characters for this sequel. But it draws out the establishment too long. In the first film, it starts straight in with the shadow of the alien ship crossing over the moon really early. Establishing exactly what this movie is. The sequel there is none of that. It takes at least half an hour before anything happens in the film, including establishing a rivalry between two characters that ends up going nowhere by the end of the film. That’s not “low balling” it. That’s literal. There is no outcome to the characters clashing.
The first alien influence comes when a giant orb appears over the moon, and they use their new moon based gun to shoot it down. No questions, no nothing. The only one who even attempts to stop the president is Jeff Goldblum’s, David. Who despite being one of the key components of saving everyone previously, is almost completely ignored in the film. The sphere by the way, ends up looking like something out of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy; or at least that’s what popped in my mind the instant I saw it.
The new fighter pilot lead, Dylan Hiller (played by Jessie T. Usher) brought in to replace
Will Smith’s character when the contract negotiations failed, brings nothing to the story.
His character is bland, and dry. That’s saying nothing against Jessie T. Usher, who plays well with what he is given. But what he was given, was nothing. There is no character arc for him. Nothing changes throughout the story. Even his “disagreement” with Liam Hemsworth’s, Jake, doesn’t go anywhere outside of a one punch fight at the start.
The standout for the pilots is probably Liam Hemsworth, who while having nothing to really do, is at least looking like he is having fun through the movie.
The movie marked the return of Dr Oaken, played by Brent Spiner, where they used the
soap opera plot of “he’s been in a coma for 20 years” and suddenly wakes up in time. While Spiner plays the role really well, and looks like he is also having fun, he does nothing that any lab tech on the base couldn’t have done. As well as bringing in the, out of left field, relationship with a fellow worker from the original film. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice moment, and what they played on screen the relationship worked. But there was no hint of any of that at all in the original; it was like they just put it in for todays audience. Even so, well done to Brent Spiner and John Storey for playing that so well. It was probably the most believable aspect of the movie.
Aside from plot, this movie had the problem of bringing in too many characters, and then doing nothing with them. Vivica Fox is in the film for no reason, except to die in front of her son—which goes nowhere anyway. There was a pilot from China who appears to be in the movie to fill the Chinese box office component. She brings nothing to the film; even when flying the jets.
The character of Julius Levinson, played by Judd Hirsch, appears to be in this movie solely for comic relief. But even that falls flat. There are two scenes main scenes for him, one where he’s on his boat and trying to escape the alien vessel landing (and I’ll come back to that shortly). He ends up, somehow, on land unconscious tied to his boat where some kids find him who happen to be driving past. Which brings me to the addition of more characters, the kids. Somehow they are convinced by Judd Hirsh’s character to drive to Area 51 because they should be near his son, despite not specifying that they are even close to it. The next time you see them they are driving through desert and end up picking up a bus with even more kids which seems to be completely for a scene where they are speeding across the desert flats trying to escape the alien queen (yes, there’s a queen now).
The only real interesting character of the new cast, seems to be the African warlord that seems to have been left after the ’96 battle to fight a ship with his countrymen by themselves without any assistance from the so called united world; which actually could have been a more interesting story for a sequel (even if it does sound a bit like District 9 without the politics).
So, at the end, the giant white ball, which turns out to be the last of a race that converted themselves to thoughts (so the Vorlons from Babylon 5?) tells them that if the queen dies, the ship will leave. As well as the fact that no one has defeated a queen.
Of course, they end up defeating the queen which was pretty obvious to anyone watching the movie that they would. When they do, the aliens end up defeated in the same flawed way that Avengers the first movie suffers from. The queen dies, and the ships fall to the ground—how convenient. It’s a good thing they are that connected.
The giant alien ship, which is sitting across the ENTIRE atlantic ocean that’s been drilling a hole to get to earths core; because apparently that’s how they power their ships. Although, using the core of uninhabited planets would be far less trouble for them. The ship leaves. Takes off and disappears (probably into the third movie). I’m wondering how the ship leaves, if the aliens die after the queen does. I guess an automated takeoff. But anyway, given the size of the ship there is no interaction or issues with planetary orbits, or Earth’s stability. Even despite the fact that David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) mentions that it has its own gravity.
In the end, Independence Day Resurgence is a mess of plots that go nowhere. Characters that do nothing, and arcs that go nowhere. The fact that they ended it on such a blatant showing of a third movie should make anyone in the cinema groan.
I give this movie a 4.5\10 for still being entertaining to see the fights.
Have you seen it? What did you think? Let me know below.
Dreaming Screenwriter 