Independence Day: Resurgence

The whole Independence Day: Resurgence felt a little lame. The first hour is downright boring and extremely rushed, a lot of things happen and a bunch of new characters are introduced, but those things aren't very important or spectacularly executed and you care less about the characters than you do about the Namibian regional elections. It's nice to see Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum in action after all these years, but it's impossible to say that their presence makes the second Independence Day a better film. If they thought we'd applaud the excitement of seeing a heroic president and a likeable nerd save the world years later, they miscalculated. Independence Day really isn't about the characters, so there's not much point in revolving around them for an hour. It's boring. The action does kick in in the second half, but honestly Roland Emmerich has made more interesting stuff, and pulling a Chinese big city and then dropping it on London no longer impresses in the blockbuster universe. This and the aerial battles and the finale on the ground are fine, but none of it is interesting enough to help the film get out of the "pretty OK summer sci-fi washout" box. Unlike the first film, there's a woeful lack of wit, workable pathos, and most of all, those one-dimensional but still likeable heroes you'd root for. Here, you have either anonymous characters bullshitting or quite effectively but not extravagant action. It doesn't hurt in the cinema, but I'm looking in vain for a reason to see it a second time. (15/05/2017)

Does anyone still find this entertaining today, in age of Interstellar, Gravity and The Martian? There is no paradigmatic shift when compared to the twenty-year-old (!) original; instead, everything is just multiplied – the number of characters, fighter planes, the size of the space ships, the number of presidents and their speeches with patriotic background music. The spectacular and loud action begins almost immediately, lasts 100 minutes and is denser than in the first Independence Day, but EVERYTHING seems borrowed from somewhere and there is not a SINGLE innovative element in the entire movie. Personally, what made me suffer the most were the characters and their insipid dialogue and blatant stupidity, which might have seemed funny and cool in the 1990s, but today?! The best moment for me was the fadeout before the end credits when David Arnold’s famous musical theme started to play. (27/06/2016)

Emmerich remakes his own work while managing to rip off about ten other films, sprinkles in cheesy lines, pathetic speeches, and huge monumental action that casually outdoes every orgy of destruction from any action film of the last three years (which is a major asset!). It’s really just 1990s stuff. But! Christ, did the first half-hour of introducing new characters really have to be that long? And the callous treatment of protagonists from the past? At a time when the studios allow 140 minutes for whatever, Emmerich's two hours are too tight, and his weakness is shown to be the lack of finesse in his shortcuts. But the monumental epic wins in the finale. Although it’s tight and quite ineffective, I've forgiven Emmerich for worse things. PS: When I want to think back to it two days later, all I can pull from my memory are high-five planets and new interplanetary ships. (23/06/2016)

African dictator, our hero! I saw the dubbed version (almost everybody from part 1 was in it again!) to enhance nostalgia and it worked. The president is a crazy master chef, like in part 1, even though this time his speech is less impressive. On the other hand, it’s the typical sequel horse-shit where the catchphrases from part 1 are repeated and the main tough guys’ kids continue in their footsteps. Remember the president’s little girl? Of course she’s a gofer in the White House and in the end gets into the fighter cockpit and kicks ET ass. Emmerlich makes the aliens return in a bigger ship than they had last time, with stylish destruction that he didn’t take so much care over than he used to. Bored of destroying historical monuments? Is he? Wil the planet get destroyed next time? In acting terms, it’s Pullman who makes the movie work and Jeff Goldblum is good, but his Levinson is already a hero and no longer a cable guy, so it doesn’t come across so funny. Great visuals, beautiful battles, but could have been less confused. The white ball is super. Funniest moments: homosexual death + William Fincher promotes + financial auditor with a gun. The finale in the desert is a feast for the eyes. I enjoyed it. (25/06/2016)

Total creative misery and a massive drop in quality. Emmerich seems to have completely forgotten what trademarks and directorial techniques made him rise to the top of the imaginary blockbuster ladder in 1996. His ID4 was funny, dynamic, emotional and at times very chilling. Above all, though, it was hugely entertaining, with interesting characters you rooted for even though (or perhaps because) they were so different. 20 years later, we have a new attack, which is only watchable thanks to the evolution of the digital effects. Because the script is out of the question, the new main characters are uninteresting and boring, and the old ones get little time or are treated reprehensibly badly. You could say that, with the exception of Goldblum, the director hasn't let them age with the grace and refinement they would need, while still being great draws for the young hungry crowd, who, by the way, average about 15 years old and pilot fighter jets, fly to the moon, and sacrifice themselves for humanity without blinking an eye. Overkill is fine, but here it’s often meant too seriously. The mix was simply wrong from the start. The blatant copying of Aliens and Sphere cannot be forgiven either. Truly a giant disappointment of intergalactic proportions, and I think back with nostalgia to the perfectly polished and charismatic first film. (25/06/2016)