Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) | Movie News & Review

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INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE (2016) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

Independence-Day-Resurgence-movie-2016-poster

independence day: resurgence (2016) movie

Genre | Science Fiction

Classification | M

Running time | 120 minutes

Released | 23 June 2016

cast

Liam Hemsworth ... Jake Morrison
Jeff Goldblum ... David Levinson
Jessie T. Usher ... Dylan Hiller
Bill Pullman ... President Whitmore
Sela Ward ... President Lanford
William Fichtner ... General Adams
Judd Hirsch ... Julius Levinson
Brent Spiner ... Dr. Brakish Okun

director

Roland Emmerich

writer

Nicolas Wright ... (screenplay by) &
James A. Woods ... (screenplay by) and
Dean Devlin ... (screenplay by) &
Roland Emmerich ... (screenplay by) and
James Vanderbilt ... (screenplay by)

Dean Devlin ... (story by) &
Roland Emmerich ... (story by) and
Nicolas Wright ... (story by) &
James A. Woods ... (story by)

Dean Devlin ... (based on characters created by) &
Roland Emmerich ... (based on characters created by)

Carter Blanchard ... (screenplay) (uncredited)

cinematographer

Markus Förderer

music

Harald Kloser ... (music by)
Thomas Wanker ... (as Thomas Wander) (music by)

film editor

Adam Wolfe

box office result

Worldwide $ 389,681,935

Australia $8,631,705

North America $ 103,144,286

the best dialogue

David Levinson: They like to get the landmarks.

David Levinson: That's... definitely bigger than the last one.

Jake Morrison: Pee your pants?
David Levinson: Uh, yeah.
Jake Morrison: Yeah, me too.

things to spend money on ...

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INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE (2016) IMAGES

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Independence-Day-Resurgence-movie-2016-image

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INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE (2016) STORY SYNOPSIS

Two decades after the freak alien invasion that nearly destroyed mankind a new threat emerges. This Alien mothership is more than twice the size as the last one and once again, the world's armies must band together to save the world. Do they have enough firepower or will this battle change and will aliens take over?

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE (2016) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty | Review date 21 June 2016
Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐

Twenty years has not been enough time for Independence Day creator Roland Emmerich to come up with a film that tops his 1996 blockbuster; the film that placed the German Director at the forefront of the “Disaster Epics”, a sub-genre which has become the signature of his movie-making endeavours. Where most feature film Directors look to expand their repertoire with each successive film, Emmerich hit it big with his alien invasion flick in the late 90s and has spent the last twenty years deconstructing his career to the point where his latest film spends more time mimicking its predecessor than being a genuine sequel. The result is a superficially entertaining sequel, but one which - ultimately - comes off as a poor imitation. The shame of Independence Day: Resurgence is that there’s actually an interesting science fiction premise lying beneath the piecemeal screenplay that is credited to no less than five writers!

That’s not to say Independence Day: Resurgence is a total write-off, but it lacks the assurance of its predecessor; an issue which is nowhere more apparent than in the next generation of characters Emmerich introduces (who, he was surely hoping, would sustain a long line of ID sequels in the coming years.) The story kicks off with a series of sequences where the audience is introduced to the new players: Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth), Patricia Whitmore (Maika Monroe), Dylan Hiller (Jessie Usher) and Charlie (Travis Tope). While Jake and Charlie have no connection to the first film (other than their parents were killed in the alien invasion), Patricia is the daughter of Bill Pullman’s President Whitmore and Dylan is the son of Will Smith’s character from the first film. None of these newbies are as memorable as any of the eccentric array of characters from the original, but Hemsworth is the most appealing. His Jake manages his way through this 120 minutes of alien invasion with a mix of brawn and bad attitude, stopping even for a moment, to share a kiss with his unlikely fiance, Patricia.

Jeff Goldblum is always great to watch and Emmerich is damn lucky he was able to convince the veteran genre actor to make a return visit to David Levinson territory, as Resurgence would have really struggled without him. Goldblum is not quite as effective this time around, missing a Will Smith-type to bounce off in the Third Act. (In the process, highlighting how acutely Smith’s absence from the film impacts the gung-ho bravado that permeated the original.) Bill Pullman also returns as President Thomas Whitmore. Pullman always looks like he’s just sucked on a lemon, even when he’s smiling, so this time around, it’s apt that the story finds him confined to a room, tortured by alien voices in his head. Emmerich does eventually free him from his confinement, but the Whitmore character becomes nothing more than an expository mouthpiece. Even the obligatory Whitmore patriotic speech, such a memorable scene from Independence Day, gets short-changed in Resurgence. Audiences will be left longing for the Hoo-rah moment… Both Judd Hirsch (as Julius Levinson) and Brent Spiner (as Dr. Brakish Okun) get expanded roles in the sequel. Spiner is the film’s big winner as his role and backstory are expanded significantly.

While the overall story doesn’t expand greatly upon anything established in the first film, Resurgence does provide an explanation about the greater intergalactic skullduggery the marauding aliens have been up to; providing the film’s most interesting story element but completely disregarding it until the film’s coda. (Did someone say “sequel”?) However, Independence Day: Resurgence is not about story; it’s about how technically effective the visual effects artists are at delivering destruction on a planetary scale and, to this end, Emmerich and his artisans deliver in spades. At one point in the film, Jeff Goldblum proclaims “they love to get the monuments”, and so does the Director. The biggest challenge for Resurgence, unlike the original, is the film’s target audience has been brought up on a staple diet of this kind of destruction porn over the last decade, so there is nothing unique or original about what the film is offering. Fortunately, the film’s release is devoid of comparable entries, so Resurgence may have half a chance of succeeding, but it won’t because there’s anything new on offer in the ID universe.