Independence Day: Resurgence

What a difference 20 years makes.  Back in the summer of 96, Independence Day flew into theaters with massive hype, made its star Will Smith into Hollywood A-List Royalty, and became one of the biggest blockbusters ever at that time.  Now, its long overdue sequel comes limping into theaters with little hype and the stigma of not being shown for critics in advance - a sure-fire sign that the studio knows they have a bomb on their hands.  The people behind Independence Day: Resurgence have every reason to be worried, 'cause is this movie ever bad.  Oh lord, is it bad.

Even in a cinematic summer that (aside from a few exceptions) has given us one uninspired sequel after another, this one stands out as a total miscalculation on the part of the filmmakers.  It recycles the structure and basic ideas of the first, only with no life and enthusiasm.  It's like watching the Bizarro World version of the 1996 film.  No one will certainly every mistake the original for any sort of classic, but it at least knew what kind of film it was, and had fun with itself.  Resurgence plugs in the same elements from the first movie (stock characters, big alien spaceship hovering over major cities, a lot of aerial dogfights and speeches about humanity coming together), and drains the sense and purpose out of it.  All we can do is watch with quiet despondence as the film slogs along.  There's never a sense of tension, humor, or even a scene that demands our attention.  This is as limp a Summer Blockbuster as there has ever been.

The plot: It's 20 years after the events of the first, and the movie spends a good amount of time allowing us to catch up with the returning characters, such as former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman), who has grown a scruffy beard since the last time we saw him, and is plagued by nightmares about the aliens coming back to Earth looking for revenge.  Jeff Goldblum is also back as David Levinson, looking a lot older than before, but still bug-eyed and constantly exasperated.  There's a notable absence, as Will Smith isn't here.  Apparently the filmmakers couldn't reach a deal with him, so they decided to write his character out by having him die at some point between the two movies while testing a piece of alien technology that was left behind.  In his place is his character's now-grown son, Dylan (Jessie T. Usher), who has inherited his father's skill with piloting a plane, but has none of his personality or screen presence.  Oh, and the wacky Area 51 scientist from the first movie (Brent Spiner) is back, also.  Funny thing, I thought his character died last time.  Turns out it was just a 20-year coma.

These characters are brought together when the aliens return with bigger and badder spaceships, but a smaller overall goal.  They're not here to conquer Earth, and their destruction is rather limited. (Only London, part of China and Washington DC seem to be affected.) Instead, they're searching for some kind of orb which is actually a different kind of alien life, and has been placed on Earth after it was shot out of the sky by our defense forces.  The orb-like alien is peaceful, knows how to speak perfect English, and is viewed as an enemy by the much slimier and dumber evil aliens.  And so, all of Earth must band together to protect the orb from the Queen alien, who is about the size of Godzilla, but isn't any smarter than her thousands of followers who like to fly in the path of our guns.   There are a group of young pilots who lead the fight against the aliens, whose personalities fit the age-old requirements for these types.  They include the brash and cocky one with the troubled past (Liam Hemsworth), the dorky one (Travis Tope) and the Asian one (a Chinese actress credited as "Angelababy".)

None of the characters in Resurgence (original or returning from the last one) are the slightest bit interesting.  They exist to either shoot at aliens like targets in a video game, make boring speeches, or in the case of Judd Hirsch, who is back as Goldblum's stereotypical Jewish father, get trapped in inane subplots.  Hirsch's character finds himself first carpooling with a bunch of kids who lost their parents in the alien attack, and ultimately finds himself driving an entire school bus full of kids by the end of the movie.  This exists solely to lead up to the most ludicrous sight of the summer movie season so far, as a school bus speeds across the desert while it is being chased by a towering alien Queen.  None of the dialogue matters, and nothing these people do have any consequence.  The people in this movie are kind of like those online avatars you see in video games.  You can tell them apart solely by their appearance, because they have no personality or defining characteristics.

What interested me more was the movie's view on interstellar life.  So, the evil aliens are slimy, smelly, growl a lot, and seem to come from a planet where personal hygiene has not yet caught on.  They possess advanced technology, but only seem to know how to use it during the initial surprise attack on Earth.  Afterward, they mostly run mindlessly around so that the human soldiers can pick them off.  For every two casualties on humanity's side, there seems to be 10,000 on the side of the aliens.  However, we also discover that there are other forms of life in the universe that are much more intelligent, represented by the orb-like object the evil aliens are after.  This kind of alien life is mannered, intelligent and polite.  So, what this movie is telling us is that there's a planet of self-defeatist jerks who exist solely to drool and be shot at, and only come out to try to attack Earth about once every 20 years.  Fascinating.

There are workable ideas that could have been explored here.  We learn that Earth has been using alien technology since the war, and has built itself into a peaceful society where all nations are united.  We also see fleeting glimpses of a hi-tech prison where aliens from the last invasion are being held prisoner.  Unfortunately, neither of these ideas are remotely explored.  Watching the film, I don't know if this is entirely the fault of the film's, as large sections seem to be missing.  Characters and plot elements are often introduced with little rhyme or reason, or certain characters (such as the kids Judd Hirsch travels with) are just suddenly thrown into the plot, and feel like they were supposed to have an introduction scene that was edited out.  Whatever the case, the editing and storytelling is jarring, and often feels like it's being made up on the fly.

Independence Day: Resurgence will have a hard time pleasing most audiences, even those who still enjoy the original.  It's a deadly dull retread that doesn't even work on the basic level of dumb spectacle.  Walking in, I just assumed that would be the one area where this movie would be safe.  Maybe I expected more.  All I know is I did not expect this level of disappointment.

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