Independence Day: Resurgence review

20 years between sequels is a curse or a blessing. It happens because there wasn’t enough interest for a sequel or it’s happening just for nostalgia.  Independence Day:   Resurgence is a happy mix between the two and then some. It’s a worthy successor to what kicked off the expectations of a summer movie blockbuster in 1996.

Resurgence has most of the original characters coming back for the 20^th anniversary of the war of ’96.  For the most part this works to great effect. Jeff Goldbloom is great, as is Judd Hirsch, Robert Loggia (even just for a moment), William Fitchner and others. Vivica Fox is back too as Will Smith’s baby’s mother; but she dies very quickly into the film and only serves the purpose of supposedly motivating her son to go fight aliens.

Will Smith’s character was killed off in the film when the writers wanted to inject some young blood into it. Instead of the father/son story, they went with the hot shot-son who is flying in his father’s shadow, played by Jessie Usher as Dylan Hiller. Usher has a tough role to play, Smith is a very gifted action and comedy actor and the part of Dylan Hiller doesn’t have enough of either to be memorable.

Independence Day: Resurgence is not a classic film by any means. It’s entertaining in the same vein as Independence Day, in that it’s lightweight, well-done, summer popcorn fare. The film manages to combine elements of Predator, Alien, 2001, as well as, any modern disaster film and has an ending that’s akin to Back to the Future II.

In lieu of the dozen or so influences it’s more surprising that the film was not a complete disaster of a disaster movie. What is unique about the Resurgence is the scale of the film is huge. The alien ship is the size of an ocean and the flying sequences around it are quite well done. In a film like this viewers expect the dialogue to be hammy at times and it happily obliges. About half way through the film I was sarcastically wondering when we’d see a character stop what they’re doing in order rescue a kitten from a tree.

THAT didn’t happen, but something close to it did. Such is the dichotomy of Independence Day: Resurgence, aliens invade the Earth and kill millions of people, yet we’re supposed to care about a Shih Tzu dog some kids have.

In the end Independence Day: Resurgence offers slightly better escapist fare as any other world destruction movies that you’ve seen recently.  There isn’t as much humor in this one, but the aliens are much better. It’s also loaded with too many characters who you don’t really care about. One notable exception to this is Deobia Oparei, who plays an African warlord.  He’s got a steely glare so strong and focused it almost feels out of place amongst the camp.

If your expectations for the film are like Sharknado, except more entertaining, but not quite as good as Predator or the original Independence Day then you’re in the right theater.

Catch the film during a matinee showing and you’ll be entertained. Hardcore fans can dig into an evening showing; just don’t expect a life changing film. This is tent-pole summer cinema, albeit 20 years late, with an ending that all but assures the fact that the next film won’t take that long until we see them again.