Independence Day Resurgence : Bigger, Bolder, but a Bit Of A Bummer

Independence Day Resurgence
Directed by Roland Emmerich,
Starring Liam Hemsworth,
Jeff Goldblum,
Jessie T. Usher,
Bill Pullman,
Maika Monroe,
William Fichtner,
Sela Ward,
Judd Hirsch,
Brent Spiner,
Vivica A. Fox,
and Angelababy
Produced by Centropolis Entertainment,
TSG Entertainment, Electric Entertainment
Distributed by 20th Century Fox

So after some waves of unwanted sequels that hit theatres this year, here's another one that may go down with the rest of them or probably become one of the beter sequels of 2016. This year, Roland Emmerich unleashes the continuation to his cult classic 1996 alien invasion disaster flick 'Independence Day' which starred Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum. But this time, we onl get Pullman and Goldblum returning from the lead cast of the original, facing a bigger, massive alien attack on our planet twenty years after the events of the first film. just like what the posters says, "We had twenty years to prepare... So did they"
I've seen the 1996 classic when I was still in high school. We watched it with my classmates in our friend's home as it was part of our Social Studies project. And since then, it always had a place in my heart as one of the better examples of alien invasion mayhem. So when I heard about he sequel coming up this year, I kinda felt excited and felt worried at the same time. One part of me feel that this is gonna be an awesome pocorn flick. But then, there's another part of me that says it might be a bad idea to mess with the classic. And after watching the film in whole, I was right one way or another.
To be honest, I was actually wanting to see 'The Purge : Election Year' that day when I went to the cinema. But then, I hvae already scheduled to watch that horror thriller next week with a frind of mine so I decided to check out this one. I didn't bothered watching it in 3D because based on what I've heard, it doesn't add too much to the whole movie experience. So the additional hundred bucks wasn't worth it.

At first, I felt kinda giddy and excited for the film's first minutes. We get to see some characters from the original coming back for his sequel. We have Jeff Goldblum back as David Levinson, a scientist, MIT-educated computer expert, strategist, and environmental activist. He's one of the best aspects of he original movie as he adds some humor to every scene. Bill Pullman is also back as Thomas J. Whitmore, the 42nd and former President. Here, we get to see him with his daughter Patricia, now all grown up, played by Maika Monroe. Other familiar faces that are back for he continuation of the epic disaster flick includes Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson, David's widowed father, Brent Spiner as Dr. Brakish Okun, scientist formerly in charge of research at Area 51, and Vivica A. Fox as Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller, the widow of the late war hero Steven Hiller. Now, although losing Will Smith was kinda sad while watching this film, he still gets some extra cameos through photos and paintings. 

Aside from his, we also get to meet a whole ned set of characters like Liam Hemsworth as Jake Morrison, a U.S. pilot serving as a lieutenant in ESD, Patricia Whitmore's fiancé, Jessie Usher as Dylan Dubrow-Hiller, the son of Jasmine Dubrow-Hillier and stepson of the now-deceased war hero Steven Hiller, Angelababy as Rain Lao, a Chinese pilot and lieutenant in ESD and Travis Tope as Charlie Miller, a pilot serving in ESD and Jake's best friend since childhood. I actually enjoyed the whole bunch of new and old characters forming this ensemble. But as the story progress, lots of these characters, mostly the old ones, gets killed which actually shocked (and annoyed me). Yeah, I know that they're trying to put their new characters as their new frontliners in the inevitable sequel (based on it's final moments). But come one, killing Jasmine's characters in the most stupidest way (falling along a collapsing building). That was a bad move. Very, very bad. I mean, she was one of the most loved characters from the first film, with her becoming a real hero despite her exotic dancer background. I just hated that part of the film. Really, really, really hated it.

Storywise, the film actually is way different from the first film, which is a good thing. Unlike the first film wich is a plain-old alien invading the world disaster, this sequel actually gets a surprising turn by it's second half as it is then revealed that the events of the film are all part of a bigger plot. Are you ready for it? Here we go. Planetary Wars. Yes. You read that right. The aliens attacking the Earth are after our planet's molten core, as explained by another a virtual intelligence that came from another alien ship that arrived in the moon. this virtual intelligence reveals that its mission is to evacuate survivors from the planets being targeted by the aliens, whom it calls Harvesters, and that it has gathered a viable resistance force that the Harvesters are after to destroy. By the final act, we get to see the alien's Colossal Queen (a monstrous H.R. Giger alien with the size of a skyscraper) chasing Jeff Goldblum while driving a bunch of kids in a school bus in the Nevada dessert, which was somehow a nice way to end this hell of a film.

A lot of parts of the film were quite good, and we get to actually like some of the characters like Travis Tope's nerdy Charlie Miller (the nerdy ones are always the thing, you know) and his bromance with Liam Hemsworth as Jake Morrison. Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson also adds up to the comic relief of the film which somehow lifts up some of the dull moments of the film. But then again, one can't help but feel a bit bummed while watching the film along the way because it felt like you were watching a mash-up of 'War Of The Worlds' 'Knowing' '2012' 'The 5th Wave' 'London Has Fallen' and 'Predators'. It was good, but not as good as the first one.

Highlights:

• The Mayhem. Yes, indeed. The attack of the aliens in this sequel are probably a bit more destructive than the first movie as they bomb cities with debris of other cities that they sucked high in the air. Imagine London raining with buildings, vehicles and boats all over the place.
• Nicolas Wright as Floyd Rosenberg, an ESD accountant turned alien shooting hero.
• The Bromance of Charlie Mille and Jake Morrison. Period.
• The School Bus Chase. I'm telling you, this is definitely one of the best parts of the film.

Downlows:

• Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller's (Vivica A. Fox) stupid demise. Ugh. Don't start with me.
• Dylan Dubrow-Hiller (Jessie Usher) acting as Will Smith's replacement. Yeah, I know that he's just the son. But he's still a poor replacemnent for Steven Hiller.
• Uhm, Angelababy's acting, perhaps?

   

Rating: ✰✰✰