Independence Daygave us an alien invasion movie for the ages.
Fox), and David Levison (Jeff Goldblum) helped establish directorRoland Emmerichas the cinematic master of destruction.
Twenty years later, does the sequel,Independence Day: Resurgence, achieve the same glory?
Credit: Claudette Barius
Theyre already missing one crucial ingredient: Smith decided to not return, leaving his character to beexplained away.
Even as the crew armed themselves with some new blood on the screenplay (Nicolas Wright and James A.
Woods), theResurgencewasnt enough to surpass, or even meet the success of the first.
EWs Chris Nashawaty gave the movie anFin his review.
But at least it was competent.
The same cant be said for its disposable and shockingly inept sequel,Independence Day: Resurgence.
Heres more of Nashawatys review and what other critics thought ofIndependence Day: Resurgence.
That, in and of itself, is not something Im against.
But Emmerich and his army of screenwriters (including original co-writer Dean Devlin) dont even bother with that.
Which, in a sense, is exactly whatIndependence Daydoes to its audience.
This sort of entertainment is his happy place.
It feels like no one ever really dies or gets hurt, despite the destruction of half the planet.
Bigger, yes, but not nearly as much fun.
Scott Mendelson(Forbes)
Independence Day: Resurgenceis terribly unremarkable to the point of being terrible.
It is the least imaginative, least challenging Independence Day sequel you could imagine.
The ships are bigger, the catastrophe is greater, and the action is more plentiful.
But everything else is in painfully short supply.
They had twenty years to prepare, and this is the best they could come up with?
I take no pleasure in reporting this news, folks.
Brian Truitt(USA Today)
Hey, the White House finally makes it through anIndependence Daymovie.
The design elements look like they were recycled from a dozen other blockbusters.
Peter Bradshaw(The Guardian)
Theyre back.
