I actually can't believe the original Independence Day is already 20 years, and it actually took Roland Emmerich 20 years to make a sequel to a beloved sci-fi alien invasion movie. However, is it any good? Not really.
Basically, Independence Day: Resurgence take place after the event of the original, where humanity is at peace globally and alien technology influenced human innovation. However, the aliens are lurking in the dark prepare to strike back and take revenge for the second time. This is pretty much the repeat of the first Independence Day plot in premise, only bigger in scale (literally) and more technological advanced, but the execution of the sequel pales in comparison in almost every single way.
First thing, the good of the movie, Jeff Goldblum. He's an incredible actor, and well-established in the acting arena as one of the good actors in the past and he still got it in Resurgence. He is the only actor in the movie that actually showed enthusiasm and fun to be a part of the movie. His comedic timing is perfect and most of the time him being the classic Goldblum is just fantastic.
Now, the bad ones. The movie is never fun, it was complete dull throughout. The sequel tried to grittier approach compared to the original, yet tried to keep the wittiness ended up being flat and incredibly boring through the entire run time. I had some laugh with some jokes and that's it! I never feel like cheering for humanity and the characters when they are taking on the alien invasion.
It seems like the charisma of Will Smith is really lacking here, as his character is replaced by his character's forgettable and sleep-inducing son (I don't even remember his name!). Besides him, even the former president is never engaging enough. Basically, almost every damn character besides Jeff Goldblum ones felt extremely flat.
The plot, what do I say about this? As the plot of the first movie was extremely dumb, I can't really criticise Resurgence being dumb, that would counter my own argument. However, the addition of [SPOILER ALERT, highlight the words to see it] another alien race to aid the Earth is incredibly dumb. Independence Day is about the celebration of humanity's strength against foreign foes, that's the lesson, adding another alien race just dampens the mood. Not to mention the ending, of wanting to setup another sequel really makes me groan. Hollywood, please, focus one movie at a time!!!
In conclusion, the original Independence Day was dumb but it was exciting and fun to watch. The sequel, however, is just as dumb but it lacks the charm and fun, it was an incredibly boring and joyless. It was not really terrible, but not really decent either. Look at the clip below of the originals to show you what's missing.
Score: 2/5
