The first Independence Day is one of the greatest jingoistic, American, ra-ra movies of all time. It will also contain the greatest speech by a fake US president in movie history. Independence Day: Resurgence continues the story decently and will remind you of the original; it just lacks the fervor the first generated because of a couple small things that just grow in distaste over time.
Like in reality, we are a generation removed from the events of the first film. Globally, the Earth has resolved its petty differences and David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) and General Adams (William Fichtner) have been using the left over alien technology to beef up Earth’s defenses in case of a second invasion. We start getting signs that a new invasion is coming when former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) starts having visions/nightmares of objects, along with scientist Okun (Brent Spiner) and African warlord Umbutu (Deobia Oparei). This means that our younger generation’s leaders: Whitmore’s daughter (Maika Monroe) and her fiance Jake (Liam Hemsworth) as well as “Will Smith’s” son Dylan Hiller (Jesse T. Usher), have to step up, work together, and join with the older generation to save the Earth once again.
Independence Day: Resurgence has to do one thing to recommend it: deliver the spectacle. Resurgence definitely does do that. In IMAX, the ride from the moon base to London and the spaceship’s effect on the Atlantic seaboard is as amazing a spectacle as Roland Emmerich has done (though it lacks the visceral effect of the first Independence Day). London, NYC, and Washington DC bear the brunt of the destruction, particularly London. Emmerich’s new twist is having humans combat the aliens on the ground, which is more visceral and makes the aliens more scary with their exoskeletons, and gives some decent moments for characters we know little about. There’s a little bit of Aliens here as well with the third act and the increased understanding of the invaders, particularly their leader. I was proud of America in Independence Day: Resurgence, but not extremely amped up.
That’s because there are a bunch of little problems that build into big issues by the end of the movie. At the start, Will Smith’s absence, as well as actor charisma in general, is deeply felt, especially because he is replace by Liam Hemsworth, who is just not as charismatic as the dynamic Smith. The lack of new character dynamism means that there is no great speech or electric confrontations. Hemsworth has an ok one, but Fichtner is just not as great of a speechifier as Bill Pullman, who’s short speech is way better than Fichtner’s rally cry. The generational comparisons are interesting as well, but they are barely explored and forgotten quickly when that could have been a terrific subplot. Minor characters from the first film are brought back to generationally influence the younger kids, but they exist mainly for humorous reasons, and are not necessary; I would have used the movie to build new characters instead. Kill these characters off and use that as motivation for new ones. Because of the sprawling character list, the story shoots out in too many directions, particularly David’s father (Judd Hirsch) and his Goonies bunch, which exists only so Jeff Goldblum has an escape in the third act. In Independence Day, Randy Quaid’s character was subplotty until he factored in deeply into the big battle; here it’s just a waste of 10 minutes of screen time.
I underestimated certain elements of Independence Day that made that movie special. While spectacle will keep the butts in the seats, great casting and smart plot choices can take the movie to great heights. Independence Day had it, Resurgence does not. Fortunately, they have a lineup of sequels ready, so maybe the new crowd can learn some stuff and get us ready for the next 4th of July.