Twenty years later, the aliens are back for more.
The original ID4 came at a time when the blockbuster genre needed a fresh kick in the ass. With a cast that had impeccable chemistry and top notch special effects for that era, Independence Day rebooted the big budget blockbuster craze. People came out in droves to see what they thought would be the next big sci-fi action franchise launch. Sadly for us, it took way too long for the the second motion picture to get made and Will Smith lost interest in returning to fight the world destroying aliens again. The loss of his character at the helm is felt all over this movie. At long last, the sequel hits theaters tonight with an explosively stupid thunder that makes the original look like a masterful Shakespearean play.
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| I hope you brought a blunt this time. Things are about to get messy. |
Resurgence is the exact reason most people hate sequels. It's big. It's dumb. And it seems to be written by a five year old. Trudging through inane plot points, illogical character assassination, brain dead editing, and some of the worst action sequences ever put to screen, this invasion is dead on arrival. Hampering the cheesy but action filled goodness of the first movie, this second entry makes no sense other than trying to reinvigorate Roland Emmerich's flair for planetary destruction. Yet, this time around, everything he does falls flat, has literally no point, and is so contrived that I can't even count how many times I rolled my eyes at this blundered opportunity. Via unfathomable scripting, horrid sound design, and story ideas that are literal plagiarism, Independence Day: Resurgence is the worst movie Emmerich has ever laid his hands on. In comparison to his other 'disaster' movies, this is a notable embarrassment and a long, deep stride in the wrong direction for a flailing career.
Lacking any connection between his main players and the sheer disrespect for the characters from the 1996 movie, this is an unbelievably bad attempt at restructuring ID4 as a young adult franchise about freedom fighters battling the big bad alien invaders. With a wasted Jeff Goldblum still playing a magical wizard that can tell exactly what the aliens are up to before they do it, a totally bland Judd Hirsch, an uncomfortable Bill Pullman, and the wits of Brent Spiner, it's hard to imagine how any of them stood around waiting for this devolved piece of filmed excrement to get made. With a fresh faced cast made up of Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe, and Jesse T. Usher, it's easy to tell they were trying to play to a younger crowd. However, this part two will do more harm than good to their young careers. And even stranger than any of this is seeing the usually more indie Charlotte Gainsbourg play in a summer release such as this.
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| Has anyone seen the queen? Last time I saw her she was in Aliens? |
Honestly, it's hard to imagine how this script got approved for a shooting schedule. There is nothing to like about Independence Day: Resurgence. No, the original is not high art. But it at least tried to elicit some patriotism while pitting a thriving cast against an alien invasion. Does the original still hold up? Yes. Way better than this one does. IDR grabs the reins and runs away as quite possibly the worst sequel ever made. It's a flat footed, heartless piece of sci-fi action that expects audiences to just nod and accept anything that gets thrown at them. This should have been made 15 years ago when the idea was still fresh in people's minds. This is just a mundane summer flick that looks like a SyFy movie that just so happens to star some bigger named stars.
Don't get me wrong. I can like big dumb fun movies. But this doesn't even qualify. Emmerich and all those involved should be embarrassed of this movie. It's an absolute wreck.
Score
-CG