Almost 20 years after blasting humanity back to the virtual stone age, the alien invaders of the original “Independence Day” return to claim the conquest that was denied them in their initial wave, forcing a technologically advanced Earth to bind together again and end their extraterrestrial adversaries once and for all.
If there's anything ID4 Resurgence does that's worthy of commendation, it's the honesty that went into it.
Similarly to the first film, Act 1 of Resurgence is a giant exercise in build up.
Where the original film used this time to establish and set up its characters for their roles in the events to come however, the star of the show this time around (at least until the action gets underway) is the setting.
Advancements in technology granted by the downed equipment of the alien invaders from 20 years ago in the wake of world governments unified by a greater good has made resource scarcity a nonissue and rendered armed conflict moot, allowing human society to flourish in ways that it never had before.
Watching the inner workings of an almost “Star Trek-esque” proto-utopia across the near entirety of the first act is clearly where most of the creativity of the film went because despite a solid transition into the war aspect of the film, all sense of character more or less dissipates once the movie becomes tasked with executing its advertised war for independence from annihilation.
If there's anything ID4 Resurgence does that's worthy of commendation, it's the honesty that went into it.
Similarly to the first film, Act 1 of Resurgence is a giant exercise in build up.
Where the original film used this time to establish and set up its characters for their roles in the events to come however, the star of the show this time around (at least until the action gets underway) is the setting.
Advancements in technology granted by the downed equipment of the alien invaders from 20 years ago in the wake of world governments unified by a greater good has made resource scarcity a nonissue and rendered armed conflict moot, allowing human society to flourish in ways that it never had before.
Watching the inner workings of an almost “Star Trek-esque” proto-utopia across the near entirety of the first act is clearly where most of the creativity of the film went because despite a solid transition into the war aspect of the film, all sense of character more or less dissipates once the movie becomes tasked with executing its advertised war for independence from annihilation.
The new young leads tasked with carrying the action pull off a decent job at doing just that but what little pathos was built for the characters seemed to have been more or less pointless as the entire film’s only concern seems to have been how to carry them from set piece to set piece.
Bill Pullman returns as former President Whitmore, traumatized by the events of the previous film while receiving telepathic visions of the invaders’ second coming in a subplot that could have been tragically sympathetic but ultimately plays out as a source of exposition and an extraneous one at that considering Brent Spiner returns in a similar role and manages to actually bring about some semblance of a character. Meanwhile Judd Hirsch makes a delightful return that provides the film with its most humanity which is sadly undercut by the fact that he has pretty much no bearing on the overall plot.
Jeff Goldblum is probably the only person that walks away with an impressive balance between what the human cast should have been aiming for, making a theoretically phoned in performance work through the framing of an older man incapable of being surprised by what the universe has left to dish out.
If I’m making this sound rather unimpressively negative, the truth is it’s a little bit more complex than that.
“Independence Day: Resurgence” is not quite a poorly made film. The effects are strong, the action is well coordinated, the editing is solid, the pacing is good, and it ends just before it starts to overstay its welcome. Theoretically it’s a passable blockbuster experience if you’re willing shut your brain off.
The notion of an “Independence Day” sequel on almost every conceivable level would have always been iffy sell at the height of its popularity but the idea of one nearly 20 years removed from its period of relevance is almost a joke dead on arrival in and of itself; not a parody of sci-fi blockbuster disaster tropes running rampant in the landscape the original film helped to create but a passing gag meant to ground the audience into a moment of relatability preceding something more worthwhile to come.
This is a movie that was not going to be anything more than a grand, dumb, flashy, schlocky B movie at best.
That said, it's a good thing that in addition to being all of the above, "Independence Day: Resurgence" does manage to serve the one purpose it should satisfy above all else, which is decently entertain.
Having had more than a few days to really mull it over however, there’s something frustrating about its utter lack of creativity that has stuck with me as I’ve thought over other films to come out this summer, in addition to some that are on the way.
I understand that most films need to stand and fall on their own merits but when I really think about praising a passive effort that had the benefit of an effects budget to compensate for actual effort over movies that actually try even if they fall on their ass, I just can’t give this one full pass.
Technically it satisfies every admittedly low standard asked of it but so does a grade school creative writing project and those don’t get hundreds of millions of dollars thrown at them to slap you in the face for a blatant set up to a franchise that could have been more impactful if left as a subtle hint of what’s to come rather than composing of the last minute of the film before cutting to credits.
ID4 gets an ID… 4 out of 10
Great review. This sequel is definitely a clunker.
ReplyDelete- Zach