Virgin Movie Review – Independence Day 2: Resurgence

What did I just watch? This movie was incoherent. It’s probably better if you recently did a rewatch of the original Independence Day film before viewing 2016’s Resurgence, but I can’t be sure if this is just me not paying enough attention, or the movie being made mostly of nonsense.

In spite of not understanding most of the narrative, I liked it. I love me some interesting science fiction, even when it’s more fiction than science. It was pretty, and showed neat sequences of mankind’s adaptation to alien technology, which was just darn cool. Resurgence had Data Brent Spiner back on the big screen (YAY, says the geek in me). And Jeff “Must Go Faster” Goldblum, and pretty boy Liam Hemsworth. What’s not to love?

Well, the movie was universally panned, and I can see why. It’s got a lot of side stories that don’t pay off, the big action set-pieces were too clearly CGI, and there were too many characters who didn’t actually do anything. I think the writers threw spaghetti on the wall to see what would stick. What’s the word I want? Oh, yeah: it was a hodgepodge.  Very attractive, but strangely inconsequential.

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Maybe I need to see it again. What was the deal with the school bus in the dry lake? Why did the aliens have a Queen that looked and acted just like the Zenomorph Queen from Aliens? What was the helpful white alien sphere about? And why was it so momentous that Bill Pullman shaved his beard?

I think there was just too much going on. I mainly came way thinking, “Looks cool,” and “Stuff blowed up real good.” As Goldblum’s character said, “They like to blow up landmarks.” This time we see Beijing dumped on the Tower Bridge in London.  The White House was spared this time around, but I think I didn’t care. Again, I ask, what happened here?

There’s 20 real-life years of buildup to this underwhelming sequel. Is it that Will Smith’s character was killed off-screen in the meantime that made it so lackluster? I honestly don’t care enough to figure it out.

To Summarize: I actually had a good time watching this long, bladder-busting movie. (How long? 2 hours and 9 minutes, to be precise.) I didn’t really care that it was a dumb, messy narrative until later, as in right now, while penning my review. As long as you’re content to see some weird alien shit, and watch  the good people of Earth fighting  against almost insurmountable odds, it’s worth streaming this flick. Just don’t pay out good money for it on a DVD.

Movie Grade: C- (This is a higher grade than it probably deserves, but I had a good time with the pretty. So there.)

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Jill Florio

Co-Creator of RunPee, Chief of Operations, Content Director, and Managing Editor. RunPee Jilly likes galaxy-spanning sci fi, superhero sagas, fantasy films, YA dystopians, action thrillers, chick flicks, and zany comedies, in that order…and possesses an inspiringly small bladder. In fact, that little bladder sparked the creation of RunPee. (Good thing she’s learned to hold it.)