Bottom Line:[easyazon_link identifier=”B01HC3880G” locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]Independence Day: Resurgence[/easyazon_link] falls short where the original excelled.
It has been 20 years since the [easyazon_link identifier=”B0012HF5NC” locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]original Independence Day[/easyazon_link]and surprise….the aliens are back. I mean spoiler alert….oh wait that is the premise of the movie. Early in the movie we rejoin a lot of familiar faces from the original movie, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, etc. and see what they have been up to in the last twenty years. Many, like Jeff Goldblum, have been promoted to positions of great responsibility as a result of their role in saving the earth the first time around.[easyazon_image align=”right” height=”500″ identifier=”B01HDR4W3I” locale=”US” src=”http://www.backyardmovies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/51yxjlvrCL.jpg” tag=”backyardmov05-20″ width=”375″] There are also a whole new batch of actors, like Liam Hemsworth, playing the children from the first movie all grown up now….which means new characters that you don’t really care about. Will Smith isn’t in this movie (which was probably a good call on his part) but it is explained by the story and I appreciate the writers addressing his absence.
The movie takes place in the present day, but with possession of the alien secrets in human hands from the first movie, the people in this movie exist in an alternate reality with fantastic technology. I think this is where the movie starts to go off the rails. The appeal of the first movie was like…oh my god, this could happen! How can we possibly hope to defeat the aliens, with our primitive technology? Now that the humans have the alien technology, the playing field is leveled, and the suspense is eliminated. But you don’t really watch Independence Day expecting high art, do you? You watch Independence Day to see cool explosions, this movie does have some of those, but they didn’t have much of an effect on me. I think it is because, this movie wasn’t in “my” reality. This movie also seems to have 3-4 subplots, none of which are particularly engaging and made the film feel even longer.
Again, I wasn’t expecting high art, I bought the 3D version because I wanted to watch some awesome effects and see some alien butt get kicked and to have it look like I was there in person. But even here I was disappointed, the 3D effects weren’t as pronounced as I had hoped and they felt like an afterthought. The film is still visually stunning, but it is lost on the hum drum story.
My daughter watched part of this movie, then I think she got bored and went to her room to play. The movie is rated PG-13, there is a fair amount of profanity and violence, so it might not be a good fit for those who are very sensitive or impressionable. I think you average 9-10 year old has seen much worse and will be more than capable of handling this movie.
Truthfully, I was pretty bored by this movie. I was so excited to see it, but was disappointed on pretty much every front. I think your time would be better spent rewatching the original again.
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