‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ review

Independence Day: Resurgence is the long-awaited sequel to Independence Day.  The film features some original characters from the first film returning to defend the planet from an alien invasion again. This is the perfect movie for you if you enjoy those popcorn, summer blockbuster films.  While it has plenty of action and visual effects, the plot seems to be a little too familiar.

It has been 20 years since the “War of ’96” and the human race is united as one. The humans have used the alien technology to improve the planet as well as build a sophisticated Earth Space Defense program. David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) is the director of this program and still continues to study the alien technology while ex-President Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman) is haunted by visions and fears they haven’t seen the last of the aliens.

We are also introduced to the new generation of characters featuring Jake (Liam Hemsworth), a pilot stationed on the moon’s defense station and he happens to be dating Patricia Whitmore (Makia Monroe), the daughter of the ex-president. We don’t have Will Smith this time but we have his step-son Dylan Hiller (Jessie Usher), who is the leader of the elite pilots of the ESD. They are obviously friends but have a complicated past. We have seen this before. 

“We always knew they would come back.” Mr. Whitmore, you were exactly right. The movie itself takes about 20-30 minutes to build up why the alien harvesters are coming back and then dives right into the action. David discovers a crashed alien ship and that they have sent a distress call to the home planet. This can’t be good. We get another mothership which is 3,000 miles in diameter and it immediately begins destroying everything. We also have the return of Dr. Okun (Brent Spiner) who I thought died in the first film, but has been in a coma for 20 years.  Okum plays a pivotal role in this film. His involvement helps us realize why the aliens continue to invade Earth.

I don’t want to go into too much detail and give away one of the “twists” and the ending of the film but this movie is exactly what I expected it to be. The alien harvesters are returning, this time to harvest the energy from the earth’s core to power their mothership. It is up to both our familiar and new heroes to save the world. The visual effects are outstanding in this movie and I never found myself bored. I just didn’t really feel like I was watching something new. I know this is a sequel but it almost felt like a remake to me.

If you were a big fan of the first one, I think you will enjoy this movie. The movie definitely has the nostalgia feel to it with all of the returning characters. I watched this movie and almost immediately wanted to go home and watch the original film. I will admit that this one did have some funnier lines than expected (especially without Will Smith). Overall, it is an excellent summer blockbuster movie to enjoy for a couple hours that will keep you entertained.

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