Movie Review: “Independence Day: Resurgence” (Spoiler Free)
This is long. But Independence Day: Resurgence is longer. To be spoiler free, I have to talk about the first movie. A spoiler filled review would be even longer, actually.
This was a movie I had been looking forward to until recently. I understood that it was a large effects movie as only Roland Emmerich could conceive. I’ve also never seen the original Independence Day in the theater, which is my fault since I live in Austin and the Drafthouse plays it once or twice a year. So in a sad sort of way, I felt my attendance in the theater was more like a Band-Aid to be ripped off with a form of morbid curiosity. I’ve seen Emmerich disaster movies, having gone through a bit of a disaster film phase as a teenager that I’ve never really grown out of.
My fascination with disaster movies started with Twister, Independence Day and Titanic, staples of a 90s childhood. From there I found the Ronald Neame/Irwin Allen classic The Poseidon Adventure. What these movies all had in common is that their concepts were fairly simple, their templates were familiar, and all featured the best special effects their times had to offer. Some were better written than others but despite flaws in writing, they had relatable characters, suspense, structure but most of all featured some level of intelligence.
These movies often appeared on TV next to movies that AMC, Sci-Fi Channel (as it was back in the day) and USA felt were similar. I’d watch these movies hoping for something just as cool and every now and then would stumble upon an Aliens but more often than not would end up with a Jaws 4: The Revenge. The type of movie where you don’t know any better because you’re a kid and you see a cool brand name you recognize, but as you watch it you become crushed. The strange thing is that despite how poorly those movies treated us, no matter how horrible of a time that soul-crushing hour and a half (or in this case, over two hours) was, sometimes as we grow up we find ways of not forgiving these movies but coming to terms with their existence either through writing, attending riffing screenings, or just watching and riffing with friends.
Independence Day told us a story that was normally done in a silly, B-movie fashion and did it moderately well to the point where we watch it annually. Not to compare Emmerich to Wes Craven, but Independence Day brought a sort of respectable enjoyment to these sort of movies that Scream did to horror films. It found a balance between characters, action, horror and humor. Though often imitated after creating their own separate cinematic styles the original manages to leave something of a lasting positive impression. Independence Day: Resurgence does not do this. Nor did it bring back original music composer David Arnold. Poor, poor choice.
The original Independence Day was silly, yes, but it never sank to “made for TV levels” of humor or schlock. Except for maybe every joke they gave Harry Connick Jr. It’s characters were familiar templates of sci-fi disaster films but they were played by decent actors with some amount of sincerity. Any amount of ridiculous dog-jumping, magic virus, or Jewish stereotype was forgiven by a powerful Vivica A. Fox, Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith’s through the roof chemistry, and Judd Hirsch’s unique charm respectively. The special effects are kept to a restrained minimum, until the story requires them to not be. There’s never a truly excessive moment in Independence Day beyond a couple shots similar to the aforementioned dog jumping, Randy Quaid and Air Force One narrowly escaping fire.
Independence Day: Resurgence is aware that we are aware of what happened in the War of ‘96, and it wants us to know that it knows that we know that it knows we know. If you followed that logic then you’d be aware you’ve ventured into meta-land. Not only is it aware that we know what it’s doing, but director Roland Emmerich does this with such brazen certainty and confidence, the kind I’ve seen in others such as Michael Bay, Tom Six and the team behind Sharknado. These are guys who are so certain they are a huge draw that they can do whatever they want and expect audiences to just buy it due to its self-referential nature. As a result, Independence Day: Resurgence plays like two hours of “ID4’s Greatest Hits” smashed together with a Jeff Goldblum plucked straight from The Lost World: Jurassic Park, obvious Aliens-influenced creature and set design and writing befitting of a SyFy Channel Original. Only these days, those are getting pretty good. This sort of material does have an audience, but to function by this sort of business model is to pander to the masses by aiming for the lowest possible denominator.
If you loved the original movie and a meta attitude is perfectly fine with you and you just want to see a bunch of explosions, destruction and pretty effects then I’m sure you’ll be just set. If what you’ve heard so far doesn’t sound all that bad, then go for it. Enjoy yourself because there’s no stopping you. I was you. So I went to a morning screening so the experience was as shameful as I felt it was supposed to be. I had made the mistake of seeing the four minute trailer and, in comparison to the eerie and brooding first trailer, I did not like what I saw.
As the movie played out it did absolutely nothing truly new. When it did do something new the pay off either fell flat or went in a direction that was truly piss-poor. So often I was confused as to who was where but that might’ve been because I was busy taking notes in the back row of a mostly empty theater where I wouldn’t disturb others. I constantly went back and forth on the movie. The back direction often actual human interaction and dialog. The forth often involved special effects stuff. So for every shitty Floyd moment, there was something special effects that was… neat. That’s the unfortunate reality here is that anything that was meant to ‘wow’ me hit me as just neat. I feel Emmerich has a tendency to bounce from an enclosed, dark, confined, cheap looking space to a super wide shot of some large special effects extravaganza. The destruction in the original movie felt as enormous as it should have been because of the time it took to show it and the numerous little shots and details that came together. Say what I will about Emmerich, the original destruction scene was very well done… Until the dog jumps. However, in this film the destruction scenes are often a singular wide shot of something just going kablooie, which isn’t very satisfying when this happens over and over.
Much like Jaws: The Revenge, this movie contains a poorly handled psychic connection subplot. Unlike Jaws 4, the concept here is intriguing and shows potential, but it’s done with such sloppiness that we now have Bill Pullman looking like he’s trying really hard to look believably insane as he warns people aliens are coming. At times I felt bad for Pullman, feeling like could hear Roland asking him to try it various ways and then just splicing them together in post. The movie also features the return of Doctor Brackish Oken who was dead at the end of Independence Day. He was. Eyes open, pale faced, pulseless dead. But by magic of retcon he’s a gay man in a coma. The relationship between Oken and his Doctor-Lover felt less like a genuine gay couple and more like another attempted simplification of gay people by gay director Roland Emmerich, which comes as no surprise after his whitewashing Stonewall biopic. But that’s a conversation for another time. The point is that Oken should not have been in this movie but he is and, well… Spilled milk. He was very bubbly and my favorite part of the whole movie. Until he delivers the final lines, that is, which felt like Roland Emmerich was trying to tickle my wallet without me looking.
The movie tells us about several storylines, mainly one in Africa, that sound like more interesting movies than the one you’re watching. You’ll be longing for that movie. That gritty, Aliens-style, humans versus the left behind ground soldiers. But after the way that this movie turned out I’m not sure I want another movie from those currently in charge. It’s possible that the franchise could be taken over by competent filmmakers, but Roland Emmerich is not that. Roland Emmerich is the kind of man who expects his audiences to be satiated with mindless action, careless treatment of characters, and people who can’t just leave the damn dog behind. He expects you to pay for this over and over. In a couple years he’ll be coming out with Moonfall, a movie where people on a lunar base are dealing with a moon that’s falling to Earth. You can probably expect a lot more tidal waves, explosions and earthquakes a la Day After Tomorrow and 2012 from Roland in the future. If he’s really lucky, he’s going to be making a new Stargate movie that ignores the entire television franchise.
I never excuse a bad movie just because it’s a sequel. Clearly the studio had hopes for this movie otherwise they wouldn’t have given Roland the money. What I’m curious to see is the script that they green lit. If you’re okay with a movie that’s full of cliches and stunning but soulless CG that hammers you over the head with how meta it is, then you’re set. If you’re like me and was hoping that Independence Day might do something more than just that, like maybe the story in Africa (please, don’t do it, Fox. I don’t want it anymore), then you’re going to be completely disappointed. It’s not that I’m never going to watch this movie ever again. But chances are good that I’ll end up seeing this as often as I watch Transformers 2, which is basically “on in the background at someone’s house” status.
