A movie that seems built to be forgotten before you’ve stepped out of the theater. Not quite an utter betrayal of the first “Independence Day” (which was not exactly “Saving Private Ryan” itself), but a downgrade in almost every way, including—weirdly enough—the effects.
What Works: Not much. The first “Independence Day” movie (made almost exactly 20 years ago) was the first film I ever saw at a Drive-In movie theater, and I can still remember that experience clearly even if I don’t think I’ve actually watched the movie—or wanted to—since then. Its scenes of fiery-orange worldwide ruin and sinister emerald green alien ships were about the most exciting thing a 10-year-old could watch, and everything just seemed to click in a way that almost nothing here does….
What Doesn’t: Everything feels worse. The young cast (snooze-worthy Liam Hemsworth, a stranded Maika Monroe) leave no impression at all the way the first film catapulted Will Smith to mega-stardom—even 20 years later, Smith seems to still be trying to get back to that “King of the Blockbusters” standing—and most of the “old timers” aren’t given much to do besides occasionally sacrificing themselves to save others. The dialogue is—okay, okay, I’ll cut the shit because mostly you want to know about the effects and the “wow factor” right?
Well, even those are somehow visibly worse. Whereas the first film had excellent nuances in its computer effects and that standout scene of alien autopsy that used a great, realistic puppet, this one’s effects look cruddy, too dark, and impersonal. A few sequences that show the aliens up close even look surprisingly cheap. Like last year’s “Terminator Genesys” (a visible downgrade in effects from Terminator 2: Judgment Day 25 years earlier) this film shows that digital effects and excessive green-screening may now be making effects work look less convincing than it did in the 90’s.
What I Would Have Done Differently: There’s already plans for an Independence Day 3 that’s set up at the end of this movie, but I’m just not sure how big the audience will be. Although, part 3 will probably be more interesting than this which is essentially just a crappier remake of the first one.