Review: Independence Day: Resurgence

Title: Independence Day: Resurgence

Rating: ⭑⭑/⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Genre: Sci-Fi/Action

Awards won/Nominated for: Worst Picture, Worst Prequel, Ripoff, Remake, or Sequel, Worst Special Effects, Worst Leading Actor (Jeff Goldblum), and Worst Director (Roland Emmerich)

Summary: Independence Day: Resurgence takes place two decades after the original movie. The members of the United Nations have cooperated to reverse engineer alien technology and create an anti-Extraterrestrial defense force should the alien threat come again. On the twentieth anniversary of the original alien invasion, a new threat arrives to terrify the earth once again. Earth must use the technology it recovered twenty years ago and band together to fight this new alien threat. Otherwise, all life on Earth will be collected and devoured by the insidious Harvesters.

Who would love it: People who like to watch Jeff Goldblum at his worst. This film is also for those that cannot get enough of the generic Hollywood action formula.

Why: While Jeff Goldblum reprised his starring role in the film, he did not seem pleased about it. This was a common theme in the film: the uninspired performance of the cast seemed to tell the audience they wanted to be a part of the film as much as the audience wanted to watch it… which was not a whole lot. There was nothing to separate the uninspired CGI effects of Resurgence with the high-budget, low effort set pieces of any other Hollywood action film. Even if the formulaic nature of the movie was not a deal breaker for some viewers, there are dozens of other films that do it better than Resurgence.

Who will hate it: Most people, including fans who enjoyed the rebellious and tenacious spirit of the first film and filmgoers looking for a departure from the formulaic nature of Hollywood blockbuster action films.

Why: It simply lacked inspiration. It shared the name and the release date, but it was not the love letter to the human spirit like the first film. Since humans also had advanced technology they stole from the aliens, there was no tension. Earth was the underdog in the original film; the audience could not help but root for the side with the tenacity to fight doomsday lasers with nothing but grit and determination. In resurgence, it’s a simple battle of good guys with lasers versus bad guys with lasers. There was no creativity, no inspiration, no reason to watch the film over any other action film.