Sunday 26 June 2016

FILM REVIEW: INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE



20th Century Fox Films

It's the end of the world as we know it -- again. And no director takes quite such a delight in the destruction of our planet -- be it via alien invasion, atomic bomb-created giant lizard, meteorological phenomena or it simply imploding from the inside out -- as does Roland Emmerich. From Independence Day in 1996, through Godzilla (1998), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), and 2012 (2009), the German-born blockbuster maestro has been finding new ways to tear planet Earth a new one.

Twenty years later, he's back -- along with Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman -- to finish the job the alien invaders began in 1996. It's a long time to wait for an unnecessary sequel to a film which, by no means a classic, has its admirers; it's certainly not without its big, dumb and fun charms, especially when viewed through a prism of nostalgia. The film is very much of its time.

Sadly, Independence Day: Resurgence is very much of its time: spectacle without awe, popcorn fun without a hint of wit. It's camp and self aware some may argue, but a team of five writers have failed to inject the screenplay with any sense of urgency, thrills or human emotion (not many films would have you rooting for the occupants of a school bus to be crushed underfoot by a giant alien queen).

Independence Day 3 has apparently already been greenlit. If we must have that unnecessary sequel, here's hoping it takes at least another 20 years to reach us. By that time, the real destruction we as a species are inflicting upon Mother Earth may have already taken its toll.

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