20 years after the first invasion, the aliens return to destroy humanity,
only this time mankind has enough firepower to make one last stand. ACTION/SCI-FI
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Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)Directed by Roland Emmerich
Written by Nicolas Wright, James A. Woods, Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, James Vanderbilt Starring Jeff Goldblum, Liam Hemsworth, Bill Pullman, Jessie T. Usher, Maika Monroe, William Fichtner, Sela Ward, Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner, Angelababy, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Deobia Oparei, Nicolas Wright, Travis Tope, Patrick St. Esprit Sequel to 1996's Independence Day |
If you were a huge fan of the first Independence Day, like myself, than you are going to have only one question after you've watched this movie: Who the hell was this for? Independence Day: Resurgence doesn't seem to have a target audience, as everyone who loved the first one won't care about the new bland characters and everyone who didn't see the first one won't give a crap regardless. This film is a $165 million mess that does its best to replicate almost every scene of the first film, but without any of the charm and originality that made it such a modern classic. Both Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman should be ashamed of themselves, while Will Smith made the right choice by turning it down.
The premise is decent enough, with the aliens returning to avenge the first attack and suck out the earth's core (I'm not too clear on that part). Everything goes off the rails, however, when a second alien species is thrown into the mix. This alien is an energy being in a big sphere that is here to help, yet it does absolutely nothing against the alien queen, this film's big bad. The whole point of the first film is mankind rallying together as one species to defeat a seemingly indestructible alien threat. In this film, mankind already has the capable firepower and the know-how to take down the aliens. Not to mention, they're already united as one. My point is that there's nothing to root for. The film is way too predictable to wring out any emotion and all the characters I do care about are thrown to the sidelines in favor of fresh faces that fit generic reboot tropes to a T. There's no really no reason to watch this film. It brings nothing new to the table and will only make you look at the first one through sad eyes. Resurgence is an unfortunate mash-up of typical sci-fi cliches that make me pine for the originality and surprising fear factor of the first one. The end of the film promised a third film in deep space, but judging by the box office returns and massive critical backlash, I think it's safe to say that the buck stops here. |