Independence Day: Resurgence

Love it or hate it, Independence Day is one of the 90's greatest cinematic legacies. A massive alien invasion and an endearing cast of characters made for one enjoyable blockbuster. A possible sequel floated around Fox for years like a paper UFO on a string, but now it's an actual sequel. This is Independence Day: Resurgence.

The movie and its characters mark 20 years since a brave Apple Mac Laptop, some fighter jets and a few humans defeated the evil "Whatchmacallit" Aliens (real names not told). Earth rebuilt itself with technology pilfered from the downed Alien Ships. There's now a global defense force, Earth Space Defense, protecting the planet. Everything is better than ever. But former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and former cableman Dave Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) believe the Aliens will one day try round two.

A ship much larger than the first film's Mothership shows up on the Fourth of July. On it is the "Whatchmacallit" Queen and she has vengeance on her mind. The Queen plots to mine Earth's core and suck it dry. A squadron of ESD fighter pilots, led by Dylan Hiller (Jessie Usher), stepson of the late Steve Hiller (Will Smith, from part one), face her head-on. Meanwhile, a giant Sphere, a survivor of the Aliens' previous conquests, comes into the picture. The humans must keep the Sphere from the Queen to save their planet and the universe.

The film also marks the reunion of director Roland Emmerich, and his co-writer/producer Dean Devlin, who went their separate ways after The Patriot. They're two of five writers credited on the screenplay. Like the first film, it juggles multiple storylines centered around the Alien Invasion. It's mostly fine, though there's a salvage crew that could've used more development. It was also nice that the film expanded the scope beyond not just America, but Earth, with the Sphere. The storyline does rush at times, but surprisingly, the pacing was pretty good. It felt like under two hours when it was two hours!

The characters, both old and new, were also good. The best new character was Floyd (Nicolas Wright), a pushy accountant who proves capable in a shootout. Dylan's fellow pilots, including Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth), were a nice bunch of characters. Brent Spiner's return as quirky Dr. Okun, who was seemingly killed by a captive Alien in the first film, surprised some people. But I was surprised that the late Robert Loggia cameoed as General Grey, for I didn't recognize him with his white hair. Judd Hirsch, as David's father Julius, looks about the same as last time. Hirsch's presence was welcome as he had the best quips and quotes.

The visual department certainly delivers the "boom." The new spaceships,Terran vehicles and rebuilt cities were awesome designs. The Aliens were perfectly rendered in CGI and composited well. The Aliens' touchdown provided as much destruction as the first film. I also find it funny that the White House, whose destruction was the first film's money-shot, was barely touched this time. It was made for $200 million versus the first film's $75 million and it shows.

Independence Day: Resurgence is a visual experience well-worth the big screen. Who knows if it'll be an endearing classic like its predecessor, but right now, it's a good summer blockbuster. The film ends with an obvious direction for part three and for that, it has my curiosity and attention.