20th Century FoxOut of the two Independence Days we’ve had today, they’ve both been disappointing – but only one involved illegal aliens who are actually dangerous – and it wasn’t Brexit…
Twenty years after the aliens invaded the Earth and decimated the world’s population, they’re back – this time in a ship so large that it’s got its own gravity.
Thankfully, Earth has prepared itself over the last two decades, and who better to lead us in the fight than Will Smith’s fighter pilot Jeff Goldblum’s cable repair guy turned military expert David Levinson?
20th Century FoxAs a huge fan of the original film, I was looking forward to Resurgence, and couldn’t wait to see how humanity would deal with its latest darkest hour.
Unfortunately, it was a massive letdown.
Independence Day: Resurgence fails to perform on almost every level – it’s not thrilling or exciting, all it’s got going for it is over the top action that distracts you with flashing lights, but ultimately leaves you baffled when it’s all done.
What Resurgence does do is ‘be bigger’ than the last film in every conceivable way. The ships are bigger, the aliens taller, and the flaws of the first film are magnified tenfold.
20th Century FoxJust like the first film, it tries to be glib and funny in the face of genocide, it has side characters that add nothing to the overall plot beyond padding out its run-time, and it gives us an ending that relies on the enemy being so overwhelmingly stupid that the notion they remember to breathe seems like a biological impossibility.
Unlike the first film, however, which had the advantage of likeable and memorable leads, with a charm of their own, the cast here are far more flat and failed to engage me, so when they were in peril, I struggled to care and it made their snark irritating more than endearing.
The film’s director, Roland Emmerich, indulges all his usual vices as well, including superfluous side characters, shallow attempts at emotional engagement, and of course, the destruction of monuments, on a scale beyond belief.
Now, the film’s not without its highlights.
Jeff Goldblum gives a credible performance, managing to convince as the David, even if it stretched my willing suspension of disbelief somewhat that he managed to get this particular job, considering his background.
It also fills in some of the original’s plot holes by finally explaining what the tentacled monstrosities wanted in the first place. Unfortunately, the film managed to dig itself a number of new plot holes in the process, cementing these aliens as easily the most stupid creatures to invent intergalactic travel since the Klingons in Star Trek.
Boring and flat, Independence Day: Resurgence continues the trend of ultra late nineties sequels that fail to cut the proverbial mustard. English, of course.
20th Century Fox
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.