Independence Day: Resurgence
Two decades after Independence Day first hit cinemas Roland Emmerich has finally returned with the follow-up to his classic Sci-Fi action movie. Independence Day: Resurgence is a loud and determined follow-up which sees role reprisals from Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, and Judd Hirsch. The new story centres on a threat set exactly twenty years after the events depicted in the first movie. Resurgence shows a world still recovering from the first alien invasion, but one that has learned its lesson and employed extra-terrestrial technology in preparation for another attack. As predicted, violence soon presents itself and the Earth’s nations must once again band together to save the planet from extinction.
Independence Day: Resurgence is another large-scale action movie from the master of disaster and it’s one that takes destruction to colossal heights in a bid to outdo the feats of its predecessor. Modern technology and special effects makes this fairly easy to achieve and the resulting carnage is quite literally earth-shattering as landmarks crash and burn within seconds of the new alien arrival. While the film undoubtedly uses the conventions of every gigantic blockbuster, it benefits greatly from reusing familiar faces and its screenplay is a lot more packed out than you might expect from a seemingly mindless movie.
Despite being about a unified world, the patriotism is still strong in the Independence Day follow-up and the film relies heavily on its Americanism to carry its passion for strength and unity. The unpleasant effect of this is somewhat sanded down by the unemotional performances as the characters fail to display any real sentiment in the face of danger. It’s a matter-of-fact movie that saves its jollies for victory as it sits back and allows the world to burn. While this doesn’t make it the most sophisticated of stories, Independence Day: Resurgence is often self-critical, particularly when it comes to rushed decisions from world leaders. It’s unlikely that any lessons are really learned in the long run but that doesn’t mean that you can’t sit back and enjoy all of the carnage that it has to offer.
Independence Day: Resurgence might fail to win over hardcore fans of the original but it works well as a standalone movie. The 20 year wait has done wonders for the sequel and the upgrade is clear to see on a visual level. There are some conflicts within the movie when it comes to the clashing of peace themes and heavy retaliation sequences but nothing that can’t be solved with a little mindless action and some impressive special effects.
Sadly, this movie didn’t grab our independent attention a lot. It deserves a 6 out of 10.
