Well
that was lame sauce.
Typically, Hollywood just remakes a movie if they wait longer
than a year to make a sequel to a blockbuster. But there they went anways, making a sequel 20
years later. If you’re a whippersnapper like me, you may actually remember
going to Independence Day with your parents in the theater. How incredible it
was to see a global battle where aliens invaded the earth. How inspiring it was when we worked as one
people to defend ourselves against extermination. The performances were phenomenal from a diversely talented cast that included Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Vivica A. Fox, Bill Pullman, Mary McDonnell and Harvey Fierstein. The special effects were
mind-blowing for their time and the story offered us a new telling of the aliens invade trope
with a great twist on how the world came together to fight a common enemy.
That
was the one thing they got right for Resurgence. A universal governing body where we are a
world of people who work together to prepare ourselves for the next
invasion. Because we know they will be back.
Then the movie starts, and we are no longer impressed.
When there is a new Marvel movie every other month, a film needs to be more than just the visual effects and explosions. I suppose there was an epic water sequence with boats. But audiences have already seen some impressive water movies with Poseidon (2006), Day After Tomorrow (2004), 2012 (2009) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) making a 15 top disaster movies list. They certainly went to great lengths to get most of the original cast- even if that was the (spoiler) lamest 10 minutes Vivica Fox has ever had in a movie and Will Smith was nowhere to be seen for some reason. To make up for Smith's absence, they created a plot device where Jessie T. Usher and Liam Hemsworth mirror the relationship between Smith and Harry Connick Jr. from the original film. Usher and Hemsworth are both talented gentleman who we’ve seen do well in their other work. This film gives them a combative relationship that is contrived and doesn’t give either actor the chance to be the hero in their own story. Really that’s the problem, more than anything else.
The story.
In
the first film, there were two writers. TWO. One of those writers was also the
director, so his input was inevitable.
But two writers sat down and banged out a unique store for Independence
Day (1996). Five people worked on
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016). Five people worked on the script. And that’s just
the people we KNOW were credited.
It
goes without saying that it takes a village to make a movie. But maybe next time, take one writer and let
them create the most imaginative tale possible Stop trying to shoehorn a
blockbuster into a sequel that didn’t need to be made in the first place.
