Independence Day: Resurgence

(spoiler free)

Twenty years on from the much loved original ‘Independence Day’ film arrives its somewhat anticipated sequel. Released on the day when the UK voted whether or not it would take back its independence from the European Union this sci-fi sequel is surprisingly quite appropriate, well in its title at least. I’m gonna put it out there at the start of this review, I wasn’t a huge fan of the original so I wasn’t excited for this film at all but instead I was hoping to have more fun this time round.

As you would expect with a big blockbuster like this there is a lot of CGI used. When aliens invade as Jeff Goldblum reminds us ‘They like to get the landmarks’ so for many of the scenes of destruction or action special effects are used. Many off these look good but not all of these scenes looked quite up to scratch. At times the shear amount of effects used was an issue in itself as you couldn’t help but wish for something a bit more authentic. The colour grading used in many of these action sequences was so dull as well which didn’t help the sometimes poor looking effects. One issue I had with the first film was how its finale was really just a lot of spaceships flying around shooting each other, this in itself doesn’t keep me engaged in terms of action. Unfortunately there is quite a bit of that here so if you aren’t captivated by these kinds of sequences you may want to think twice before buying a ticket. The returning cast fare much better than the newbies to the series as many of these new faces are playing roles that seem weak, un interesting and a little pointless and for all these reasons I don’t think fans of the original film will rate this sequel.

However for newcomers to the series, casual cinema goers or for people who didn’t even enjoy the first film there is hope. Thankfully the action I have discussed above wasn’t the only type featured here and there is plenty of alien action included too. Things were always more entertaining when it was humans vs aliens without both being enclosed in ships so it was a good move to have several moments like these in the film. As I’ve said the returning cast fare much better than the new names. Jeff Goldblum returns and really holds everything together making the film far more watchable than if he wasn’t in it. His delivery of lines is just fantastic and he can make lines funny that wouldn’t be so if another actor had delivered them. He is by far the best thing about this sequel and I’d say it’s worth checking out just to see him fight aliens again. Whilst the action was hit and miss and some moments that were clearly meant to create an impact for the audience failed there were other times when the stakes felt high and things did become quite engaging which meant that for the most part when things got going ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ was a pretty good time.

Many will tear this sci-fi sequel to shreds for it’s over and sometimes questionable use of CGI, its poorly written new characters and at times boring action sequences. However I do think there is fun to be had here. For each poor element in the action sequences there is a good one too and the scenes with the aliens were all entertaining. Tied together by a great performance from Jeff Goldblum ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ is harmless big blockbuster fun which will easily entertain for a couple of hours.

Rating – 7/10

Question: What is your favourite alien invasion film?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)

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