Independence Day: Resurgence

In 1996, Mr Roland Emmerich came into the lime light with the blockbuster smash, "Independence Day".  Aliens from far of reaches of space enter our atmosphere and decide to eviscerate monumental building and cities before trying to reduce the population of our planet to a count of 0.  This was followed with similar films such as 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, and Godzilla, each having the same set pieces of destruction and planetary threat (although Godzilla was basically New York but still big on the destruction of famous landmarks).

I was never really a fan of Independence Day, I felt it was lacking in something, long and convoluted, and more of a special effects promotion rather than a decent film.  The only saving grace was Captain Hiller, the charisma of Will Smith made the difference.  So 20 years later, when the sequel was announced I was hoping for his return.  Instead we get his son, who, as he was only young when his father passed, one can only assume the wit, humour and finesse was not something that had be prevalent in the relationship.  This kid has the charisma of a wet turnip, and a sultry one at that.

So removing the one saving grace and replacing it with a soul sucking counterpart is not a good start for me.  Throw in massive amounts of faceless destruction and big bashing CG/Green screen action and I am getting distracted by the thoughts of the day ahead and jobs that I need to do at home pretty quickly.

Thor's younger brother is entertaining in parts, and the reprising roles of Jeff Goldblum, Brett Spiner and Bill Pullman and nostalgically entertaining, but I could have really done without the return of Julius Levinson (Goldblum's Father)

The story is pretty much the same (non-evident) and the effects are as big and brash as ever.  The finale felt more like a video game boss battle with flashing weak spots and using the hive mind plot is always a cheap cop out.

I have since heard that a third installment is already planned for this franchise, which when you think that the second film took 20 years to finally get a script the team thought was worthwhile, at least a third script is being rushed through to capitalise on the current market.