My Movie Review on Independence Day: Resurgence · 2:53pm Jul 27th, 2022
Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Independence Day: Resurgence".
Here's the rundown of this sequel:
After the world-threatening war of 1996, humanity has been enjoying a 20 year state of peace. During that time, the United Nations formed a global research and defense program called the Earth Space Defense (ESD) so that humanity could be prepared for extraterrestrial threats in the future.
However, when it is discovered that the aliens from long before sent a distress call to their home world before being destroyed, and that they were drilling for the Earth's core, another invasion force lead by their species' dominant queen arrives to Earth.
With an overdue rematch igniting, can humanity conquer the aliens once more? Or will the aliens finish what they started long before?
Back when I made my review of the first movie, I immediately considered doing an analysis of its sequel. I even created a post specifically for putting the review on and kept it in my drafts.
Similar to a great many other movies, though, I never got around to actually watching and reviewing "Independence Day: Resurgence" right away. As time went by, I became less interested in looking into this sequel, both being because there were other movies I wanted to review and due to uncertainty over whether it'd be worth my time since it had a negative reputation. I also didn't want to watch the movie unless it was for free somewhere, so I held back until there was an option that didn't involve renting or purchasing it.
As you can see, I finally decided to check out and review the film this year. With the other movies I already reviewed for the July months done and over with, "Independence Day: Resurgence" was the only one I had left in my drafts specifically to review for July. I watched the film via YouTube after discovering someone uploaded the whole thing on his or her channel, which was very convenient for me. In preparation for reviewing it, I decided to watch the movie two times just to be certain on what I think of it.
So, what do I think of "Independence Day: Resurgence" in words? Especially after finally seeing it for myself? And watching it twice?
Yay, I'm not gonna lie, this movie definitely wasn't the greatest movie or sequel I ever saw. Mainly because there were some aspects that didn't resonate with me.
For instance, I personally felt that the movie would've been better without the whole "Dr. Brackish Okun and Milton Isaacs being a gay couple" aspect. Not only were their scenes together cringy and the implications revolving around them being a couple irritating, but they literally didn't give any meaningful contribution to the story as a whole. It basically felt like the whole thing was incorporated simply for furthering and supporting the homosexual agenda, which was an issue I also had with "Star Trek Beyond" and the implications of Hikaru Sulu being gay.
The film's usage of cuss words wasn't something I was fond of either. I know that my complaints towards profanity isn't uncommon in my reviews, but in the case of this movie...I just think that it would've been better if it was cut back. Other than that, the film's dialogue aspect was a little too all over the place, because there were many character interactions and quotes that I felt were unneeded and distracting, such as the dialogue exchanges shared during the part where the queen heads to Area 51.
Outside of the detractors I noted, though, "Independence Day: Resurgence" proved to be surprisingly worthwhile and fun. For me, that is.
Among the many positives I noted were the special effects.
Everything about the film's use of CGI was spectacular beyond compare, and the upgrading in technology clearly benefitted the effects team by helping them accomplish things that they couldn't do in the first film. The outer space sequences and settings were amazing, of course; and the spaceships and disaster sequences were enjoyable to watch. But, the real standouts from the effects team was their work in creating the aliens. Unlike the first movie, the team was able to showcase the aliens walking around and having laser fights with the humans, which is definitely a great step up for those who want more than air battles. The aliens themselves were so realistic-looking that it actually looked like real ones were involved in this picture.
The direction by Roland Emmerich, the story by him, Dean Devlin, James A. Woods, and Nicolas Wright, and the screenplay by them and James Vanderbilt were excellent too.
Admittedly, the editing did make things feel a little all over the place, but it didn't keep me from getting engaged either. The film as a whole worked incredibly well as a sequel, because it built on its predecessor's events and managed to successfully expand on what was brought before.
For example, I thought that Okun's return was going to be some needless retcon due to thinking that he died in the first movie. Once it was established that the attack from the captive alien merely put him in a coma and connected his brain to the hive mind, though, his return started making more sense. The revelation that Thomas J. Whitmore also became part of the hive mind during the same attack was another genuine expansion that I enjoyed.
On top of this, the film's use of action and thrills were excellently well-done, because I was on the edge of my seat during those moments. The humor and comedic-timings were also very entertaining, and they carried an innocence that helped them be all-the-more enjoyable. Emmerich and the writers gave the movie a wonderful amount of heart, emotion, and morality as well; each of which aided the film in being far from a soulless endeavor.
Finally, the acting, casting, characters, and character development were fantastic.
Reprising their roles from the original film, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Bill Pullman, and Brent Spiner each did a splendid job in their returns as David Levinson, Julius Levinson, Thomas J. Whitmore, and Dr. Brackish Okun. Each of the aforementioned characters were as strong and spunky as ever, and they weren't without solid character growth either. Plus, Maika Monroe and Jessie T. Usher were amazing in the recasted roles of Patricia Whitmore and Dylan Hiller, and both characters had dynamic development.
The film's new characters were awesome as well, and the performers who portrayed them played their parts like pros. Liam Hemsworth and Travis Tope were awesome in the roles of Jake Morrison and Charlie Miller, and the brotherly bond Jake and Charlie shared was one of my favorite aspects of the film. Other performers that particularly stood out to me in the best way were Angelababy as Rain Lao, William Fichtner as Joshua T. Adams, Nicolas Wright as Floyd Rosenberg, and DeObia Operai as Dikembe Umbutu. Each of the new characters I mentioned also had brilliant personality, heart, and development.
In conclusion, "Independence Day: Resurgence" isn't 100% flawless, and the reasons for why are understandable. Nevertheless, it still provides a rollicking great time, and it works perfectly as a genuine sequel to Emmerich and Devlin's original sci-fi hit. For me, personally, it's my newest guilty pleasure.
So, I rate "Independence Day: Resurgence" 4 out of 5 stars.
I'll need to watch this sequel before making a proper critique on it.
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Well, the video I watched it from is still on YouTube. If you want, I could share the link to the video with you via PM.
Personally, even as a fan of Independence Day, I didn't like the sequel. Sure, it had great ideas, but the execution didn't take advantage of it, and the character development feels rushed due to re-writes as Will Smith didn't involve to be in this movie as he was in Suicide Squad, which is the biggest mistake Will Smith had decided to involve in this.
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I haven’t seen “Real Steel” yet, but I’d love to do so someday.
I would save the sequel of independence day was pretty good not as magical as the first one of course because my heart will always go out for the first one because how Epic the first movie is and everything and hopefully we'll get something out of the sequel