Independence Day was a summer blockbuster that opened in 1996, and I vividly recall seeing it with my husband Mike, who was still my boyfriend at the time. Gosh, has it really been twenty years already? Before watching the sequel Independence Day: Resurgence, Mike and I decided to watch the original again so we could refresh our memories before determining whether the sequel was as good as the original.
At the conclusion of the first movie, the world had united under the leadership of President Whitmore, played by Bill Pullman, to defeat aliens who threatened all lives on Earth. The President delivers a rousing speech that makes you proud to be an American and even prouder to be a human being. The sequel begins twenty years later in a world that is still a utopia. That changes when aliens decide to pay Earth another not-so-friendly visit.
After watching both movies Mike and I agreed wholeheartedly that the first movie was the perfect, feel good action flick, and the sequel is a pale mockery of the first. The first movie took place in the world as we knew it in 1996. Yes, there was an alien invasion, making it a sci-fi movie, but overall the characters existed in a world we knew. In the sequel, which is supposed to take place during today’s time period, the characters live in a futuristic world, where technology is much more advanced than what we are familiar with today.
In the sequel many of the actors we knew and loved from the first movie reprised their roles, including Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Vivica Fox, and Judd Hirsch. Characters who appeared as children in the original were in the sequel as adults, but this time President Whitmore’s daughter Patricia was played by Maika Monroe instead of Mae Whitman, and Dylan Hiller was played by Jessie T. Usher instead of Ross Bagley.
Other than some new actors in the roles of two characters, the rest of the movie was pretty much identical to the first movie. It really should have been titled Independence Day: Regurgance instead; not nearly as appetizing the second time around. There were a lot of action sequences, but they didn’t feel remotely realistic even for a sci-fi movie.
Mike and I both felt that the plot was overly predictable, and moments that pulled at our heartstrings during the original movie were downright cheesy when duplicated with minor tweaks. Maybe Roland Emmerich shouldn’t have been the director again; a director with a different vision could have created a sequel that actually continued the story instead of simply recreating it.
The new characters, including Liam Hemsworth’s character Jake Morrison, lacked any depth, and definitely didn’t have Will Smith’s charisma. Yes, there were humorous lines here and there, but Will Smith’s absence in the sequel was definitely noticed. When I saw the preview I was disappointed to see that Will Smith wasn’t reprising his role as Captain Steve Hiller, but now I understand why he passed on it.
For anyone who hasn’t seen the first movie, a word of caution that you will most likely be confused because there are numerous references to characters and events from the original. Sometimes you don’t need to see the original movie to enjoy the sequel, but in this case it’s a necessity.
When Mike and I discussed the film he said, “That’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back. Will Smith is a genius.” I agree. The special effects were indeed impressive, but the only elements of Independence Day: Resurgence that were truly out of this world were the aliens.
For movie times click here.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Director: Roland Emmerich
Actors: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pulman, Sela Ward
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and destruction and for some language
Running Time: 2 hours
