Twenty Years Later

Independence Day: Resurgence

When the Earth is in dire straits and the world’s citizens gather to fight or survive an imminent threat against humanity, you are most likely watching a Roland Emmerich (White House Down) and Dean Devlin (The Patriot) film. These two have collaborated for some of the most over the top disaster movies in the past twenty years, including The Day After Tomorrow. Though there is always a starting point for someone’s popularity and theirs came with a blockbuster in 1996 that solidified our fears of alien invasions. Independence Day is a film that personifies the meaning of blockbuster showcasing rising stars (i.e. Will Smith), spectacular special effects, and a story that tugged on the audiences’ emotions. Everything you would want in a summer movie so why not give the people a proper sequel? Unfortunately for us, we may have to just settle with the Independence Day: Resurgence.

The Story: It has been twenty years since the alien visitors decided to obliterate our precious landmarks and suck our planet dry of our natural resources. In that time we have borrow the alien technology to enhance our way of life and to make our interstellar defenses a little stronger. What we didn’t account for is the distress signal the aliens sent back to their irate queen.

Okay so I am going to stop right there because this is where the plot of this film gets a little…annoying. This film is in time with how long ago the first film graced the screens in the cinemas around the world. However, Resurgence has decided to insult its audiences’ intelligence. Twenty years have gone by and former Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman Spaceballs) has gone bat-shit crazy with visions assumedly from the evil alien queen, ace pilot Steven Hiller (Will Smith) has died in a test flight of Earth’s new fighter planes and his son, Dylan Dubrow-Hiller (Jessie Usher When the Game Stands Tall), has naturally taken his place. Whitmore’s daughter, Patricia (Maika Monroe It Follows), has also followed in her father’s footsteps and has become a pilot then aide to the newest United States President (Selma Ward Gone Girl). Patricia is also conveniently engaged to the “bad boy” of the group, Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth The Hunger Games) who just so happens to be a pilot as well.

Now that I think I have you up to speed with where our world is in this film, I will explain the insults that this film decides to throw at its audience. First let me explain that I understand that this is a movie and I may take this a little too seriously, but I think that I have proven my flexibility with subpar plots with my respect for 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So it has been twenty years since the last encounter with the invading alien force…why in the hell did it take twenty years for them to come back? Either that was just really convenient or that alien technology isn’t as great as we thought it was. Second, there is another alien life that comes to our aide, but we arrogantly shoot at it and capture it only to find out in the 11^th hour that it wanted to help us. I know the world’s history with aliens, but come on! Are we that stupid to always shot first, ask questions later?  Thirdly, there is the question of travel time and sheer continence in this movie. Specifically with Judd Hirsch’s character of Julius Levinson (back as Jeff Goldblum’s father). Hirsch somehow is able to travel from the East Coast of the United States with three kids in a Station Wagon to Nevada’s Area 51 in what seems like a day. What irritated me most about that whole sequence is that he and the kids he is with take jabs at each other for conserving gas, yet seems to have just enough between an old station wagon and a school bus to make it all the way to the Nevada desert smack dab in the middle of mass hysteria.

This film felt rushed and hastily put together. The returning characters were treated like idiots and the newer characters didn’t seem to have enough common sense to have even gotten as far in their respected careers has they have. The original had heart and a sustainable plotline; however its successor has taken a major step back in story. I remember routing for the original characters and being very excited by the outcome. Not once during the 2 hour runtime of Resurgence did I ever care what happened to any of these characters. In fact, at one point I was routing for the queen just to prove how idiotic these new characters are.

The Verdict: As you can see I just skipped over the essence of most of my other reviews, due in largely because I felt insulted and I hated this cliché riddled sequel that just added fuel to my loathing of sequels and/or remakes. I enjoyed the first ID4 and have caught a glimpse of the film here and there over the years, but this film I will avoid like the plague. There was no thought gone into this film, no passion. The film just felt like the writers and director was on a timetable and they delivered whatever piece of shit they could come up with just to satisfy our need for an Independence Day sequel.

Not Worth Your Time.