"We convinced an entire generation, that this is a battle that we could win. We sacrifice for each other no matter what the cost. And that's worth fighting for."
Filmology Rating: 1.5 out of 4
It has been 20 years since the original alien attack. Countries globally have banded together and put aside petty differences and have united in the one goal of protecting our planet for any other possible attacks. After 20 years of learning about the advanced technology that the aliens had such as weaponry, travel, and defense, the world seems pretty safe….. That is until a 3,000 mile wide ship comes out of nowhere. It seems that the 20 years that Earth had to prepare weren’t nearly enough and humanity is once again on the break of annihilation.
Special effects, Jeff Goldblum, and the previous president who had the epic speech before did another slightly less epic speech…..These were the good things about Independence Day: Resurgence. The special effects are undoubtedly fantastic in how they showed the destruction that the new ship could cause and also aliens themselves. In this sequel, we get to see a lot more of the aliens which I really liked because they were done really well. So as you could see from the trailers, lots of big budget special effects and action scenes and these were all well and dandy but it didn’t sell the film enough. Helping to tip the scale a little more was Jeff Goldblum. Again he was great in his acting and also his humor that he brings forth. There really wasn’t a single time I laughed or smiled other than some clever lines or body language from Goldblum. Along with Goldblum, the original cast who returned were all fun to see again. Interesting to see how their lives were changed and effected due to the previous attack.
However….. the new characters that Resurgence introduces really weren’t that great. I didn’t feel connected to any of them and honestly didn’t care if they lived or died. This is obviously not a good thing if you want the audience to really care about the film and have them be emotionally invested in the plot and if the characters will survive. For me, Dylan Hiller (Will Smiths son from the first movie) was a snooze fest. Yes he was a great pilot and a badass but he never portrayed any real emotion for you to grasp onto and care about. Same goes for Liam Hemsworth! The two main characters were both cool action heroes but they didn’t have either enough backstory or depth to make me care about them.
Along with the characters, there are too many subplots to really give the main plot any meaning and definition to bring us in. I wasn’t invested in the plot by the time it came for the big grand finale, I just didn’t care. Yes the finale was decent but I wasn’t enough to really turn the tables for me.
Resurgence to me was basically a newer version with better special effects but with the tension, the emotion, and the humor that the first one brought. You already know if you wanted to see this movie but if you weren’t on the edge of seeing it, I’d say wait to rent it.
Rating: Rent It
-Nick