Independence Day: Resurgence (Roland Emmerich)

[TGM]

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

Director: Roland Emmerich

imdb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1628841/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

http://cdn1-www.comingsoon.net/assets/uploads/2016/05/ID4RHEADER-1.jpg

[TGM]

So this was an, uh, interesting theater outing! I went to a double feature that was showing both Independence Day movies back to back, and yeah, I'm very happy to report that the first movie of this series still holds up quite well! Other than that, this viewing was kind of a disaster.

First let's get the technical problems outta the way, which aren't actually the movie's fault. The second movie started late, as I'm certain the theater just forgot to start it, and so me and the only 2 other people in town who were apparently interested in coming to this double feature event were left sitting in the dark and awkward quiet for around 40 minutes between films. Then, after bringing it to their attention that the movie was starting late (I believe there was an intended 30 minute break, but even that seemed a bit unnecessarily long), it turns out that the 2nd movie was unexpectedly playing in 3D. So the other 2 in the theater left at that point, and that turned out being a wise decision on their end. I considered it myself, but looked up the times to see that the next 2D showing wasn't for about 2 1/2 hours, so I figured, screw it, I'll just suck it up and watch this in 3D.

So I get through the majority of the movie, until we hit the big final action scene, when suddenly the lights come up, and the sound cuts off. So I again have to bring this to their attention, and watched as they shuffled through the movie back to approximately where it had left off. However, they played the rest of the movie in 2D, so there was that, and they gave me a free voucher for all of the technical problems, so that was cool of the theater at least.

But anyways, yeah, that was something, but onto the movie itself, which, sadly to say, is quite fucking awful. And all of its glaring flaws are made all the more prevalent by watching these two movies back to back, and seeing how this movie makes so many errors that the first one got so right. Quite frankly, this movie lacks any buildup at all. Where the first movie takes its time establishing the world, the situation, and the various characters we'll be following, this one says to hell with all that shit, and just sorta starts doing stuff. There's quite frankly no character to this movie at all.

And as for the action, this is largely an incomprehensible mess, primarily the beginning stuff with the gravity ship from the trailer. Where the first movie, again, carefully sets things into place and is very clear with what's actually happening on a visual level, shit just kinda happens in this movie, and a lot of it is such a visually incomprehensible clusterfuck that I found myself confused by a lot of this. Granted, I'm pretty sure the shoddy 3D didn't help matters, and that much of this very possibly could've been more clear in 2D, but even so, just from an editing standpoint this thing left me scratching my head. Like, at one point we're on the moon, but then suddenly the ship's on earth, and I was very confused as to when or how that happened, like we skipped a scene or something. And there's a lot of that kinda shit throughout.

Speaking of which, the pacing in this movie is god fucking awful. It's all so unbearably rushed, so much so that when we reach the climax and accomplish our goals, it still feels like there shoulda been more to it, like, that's it? Again, this is in complete contrast to the first movie, which took its time and really drew things out to the point that you felt the importance of what was happening, and what all the various activity was ultimately leading up to. But as I mentioned, this movie says to hell with any sorta leading up to anything, and shit just sorta happens.

I would say there's precisely one scene in the entire movie that sorta works, and that's when President Whitmoore is sorta hyping everyone up by stating how the previous attack 20 years ago united the world like nothing else. Sadly, this scene also depressingly highlights just how much of a fantasy world that these movies now apparently reside in, but even so, it's the only scene that felt even the slightest bit striking.

In the end, the movie teases a third outing, that which would apparently take this series fully into outter space, but at this point, I have to just ask that they go ahead and stop now, because this movie just flat out doesn't work at all. Completely unnecessary, inexcusably poorly made, with rushed pacing, shoddy visuals, and absolutely none of the charming character that all made the first one stand the test of time (and far more pointless characters this time around at that, ie, Jeff Goldblum's father from the first movie, who returns here to add literally nothing at all to the story), Independence Day: Resurgence was depressingly bad, and is an absolute disaster of a movie that has to be stopped.

Seeing the first one in theaters again was nice, though, and made the outing entirely worth it all the same.

[TGM]

To compare it to Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (which I think is a far more appropriate comparison than Warcraft), the two share a lot of the same problems for sure, but I think the determining factor between which is actually worse comes down to expectation vs. reality. Turtles 2 really has no redeeming value, but in the end, I also don't really care too much about it, nor was it following up on a movie that was really all that good anyways, so it wasn't as gutting that it turned out being so bad. This, however, also really has no redeeming value, however, particularly more so than Turtles 2, this one really has no excuse for a single one of its glaring flaws, as it does literally every single thing wrong that the first movie got so right, all despite being directed by the same guy. Now I didn't expect it to be as good as the first, but that it was so bad is really just disheartening to a degree that Turtles 2 doesn't quite achieve.

So yeah, I mentioned it would take a lot to top Turtles 2 as the worst movie of the year for me, but as far as I can see, for me at least, this movie saw that and thought: Challenge Accepted.

Now, that said, I will add this, though, this movie acted as a stark reminder of why I don't see movies in 3D, because I really did find the 3D effects quite distracting, and there's a part of me that felt like the 3D was perhaps interfering with the clarity of a lot of the action in the movie, particularly closer to the beginning as I had mentioned (though I don't know if perhaps I had just gotten used to the 3D by the end or if the movie really was just that much of a mess visually early on). So there's a part of me that's curious to give it another shot at some point, and see if seeing it in 2D throughout will perhaps improve some of the movie for me (at least the action, the characters and story I'm sure will remain just as blatantly problematic). Though, of course, I sit here wondering this, despite the fact that I did watch the entire final action scene in 2D, and found myself pretty much just as uninterested with what was happening on screen there as the rest of the movie, so maybe the movie really was just that bad from a visual standpoint, despite the 3D. But I don't really know for sure, so I dunno, I might consider renting it when it hits redbox or something. Maybe. I just don't like feeling like I'm unfairly criticizing a movie, mostly. I definitely won't be seeing it in the theaters again though, that much is for sure...

[Skitch]

Sounds like my regular theater experiences. :D

[TGM]

I'm still in a bit of shock at just how terrible a movie the new Independence Day was. I think I might actually try to write out a really in-depth and spoiler-heavy post on it, because everything I've said already really doesn't do it justice in conveying just how shockingly awful this movie is.

[Dukefrukem]

:( ,

[Peng]

Even with all the bad words, probably gonna see this (or at least a few scenes) when it's out on video. When one of the scene descriptions is "dropping one continent on another", I just have to see it for myself, haha.

[TGM]

And here are those aforementioned extended thoughts: http://cwiddop.blogspot.com/2016/06/doube-feature-independence-day.html

[Wryan]

I mean, it's patently ludicrous, of course. It takes the Michael Bay approach to dialogue and pacing, which essentially means you'll swear it's a youtube video stuck on 1.5x speed. Some nice visuals but not much of the heft of the original, which is incredible considering the monstrous upgrade in scale. It's exactly what it means to be big-budget summer schlock in this era, seemingly. Just about the only scene that I really enjoyed was the mano-a-mano with the Queen at the end. I'm a HUGE sucker for a queen, a hive, a central daddy boss that towers above the rest and has to be dispatched after everything is done. I don't even care. It's just a weak point in my armor. And the climax has basically everyone throwing their hands up and saying, "Yup, this is stupid, grandly stupid, but goddamit we're going down blazing in all directions of stupid." Someone called this a parody of the original, and I think that's fairly clear. Maybe in an unintentional Van Helsing kind of way, but it's not to be taken seriously in the same way as the original....I know what I just said.

[TGM]

Even trying to think of it as a parody, I'm having a hard time seeing how the movie works even then. Though I'll probably keep that in mind whenever I do give it a second chance.

[Mal]

Started out ok. but shit sandwich in the end.

[Stay Puft]

I don't know if I'd call this a parody of the original, just that it's a different kind of film and as Wryan says, emblematic of what a blockbuster looks like today compared to 20 years ago. It's too long, it's overstuffed with characters and plot, it plays heavily into nostalgia, panders heavily to China, and it moves at a breakneck pace so you hopefully won't think about anything for too long. Also, Charlotte Gainsbourg is in it for some reason.

I figured I'd probably hate it but I kinda didn't. It's fun, there is some good spectacle, and it sets up another sequel with some neat ideas. For all it does to expand the scope, however, it doesn't feel like a BIG movie the way the first one did. It's too busy, too noisy, too indistinguishable from other modern blockbusters. It's also just not a good movie, really, for all the reasons TGM says. It's a good argument for the blockbuster landscape changing for the worse. ID4 had better pacing, a better SENSE of scale, spent the time necessary to build up its scope and spectacle and even character (it's fun seeing the old characters again, but all the new characters in this one are dull and uninspiring). There's a scene where the new President is talking about everybody standing together, all nations, all creeds, and how the next 12 minutes will define humanity, but it's just a few characters, mostly American, fighting the final boss in Nevada. Scale is sort of irrelevant in this movie, the rest of the world doesn't really matter, and every sequence boils down to a small conflict with a handful of actors standing in front of a green screen. That's not bad per se, just something I'm noticing more and more with sci-fi spectacles like the new Star Wars even... everything feels small, there's no grandeur, no scale, just actors on an empty set and an abundance of CGI. I always worried I was just getting old and cynical, but there also seems to be a pattern emerging that feels like "movie magic" is being replaced by corporate interests and homogenized/efficient filmmaking technology. (Does that make sense? Or am I really just being old and cynical?) Case in point: There is one sequence late in Hunt for the Wilderpeople that is more astonishing and emotional in its dramatic and technical construction than anything I've seen in a tentpole release of late, and there's something very wrong with that. (And now maybe I'm just being pretentious? It's true, though; that sequence has stayed with me the way nothing else from a blockbuster event this year has... hell, even the images of the ships moving over the major cities in ID4 has stayed with me all these years, while Resurgence, seemingly by design like every other modern blockbuster, evaporates while the credits are rolling.)

Also this movie would have been so much shorter and better if it removed every single closeup shot of a white person screaming and mugging for the camera while sitting in a cockpit. You could make a drinking game out of this and be drunk before the aliens even show up.

[Morris Schæffer]

Bottom line: I wasn't bored, but on the way home I had my music on shuffle and the theme for Independence Day 1 came on and my brother looked at me and said "now that's a fucking soundtrack". And he's right. This new one puts the 1996 movie in perspective in many ways. Dubai is sucked up by the aliens and excreted right on top of London, but we never get the impression the saucer has shifted position. Why am I saying this? Because it makes the "I gave it a cold" scene from the original movie ingenious and plausible. Pullman's rallying speech, often compared to a slice of prime Gorgonzola, is suddenly elevated to a powerful and blood-pumping moment in sci-fi movie history. This is the first Emmerich movie I have seen where I'm not in awe of the destruction. Perhaps because, as others have said, the buildup isn't good as in the original, the movie is goofier too, characters less engaging.

It's a cool idea to introduce a common ally into the mix which means the movie is at least bringing something halfway original to the table.

[transmogrifier]

The original, while not great, had a weird rustic charm; I liked how all these disparate characters are just picked up by the film and we see the invasion from multiple vantage points, and the characters just sort of gravitate towards each other and bounce off each other. It had a genuine sense of real people in a deep, unexpected hole, and just doing what they can to climb out of it. Here, though, the film makes the cardinal error of trying to cram the original characters back together, and it doesn't work - it simply does not feel organic. This sense of calculation permeates everything, and as a result, this is an antiseptic chore, chugging through scene after scene dutifully, but with no rhythm or purpose. The enemy-of-my-enemy plot device is just dumb, and feels like a late rewrite to desperately try to add a genuine motivation for the ships to come back again and to set up the sequel.

[Dukefrukem]

Love the universe building. Really like the South Africa portions. Really like how humanity has built a defense around the planet, around the moon on Saturn

But my god the dialog is piss poor. And what's with the pacing? It takes off from the first minute and doesn't let up. There's no build. There' no mourning. There's no sense of dread like the first movie had. Just a lot of callbacks and eye candy. It's very close to being The Force Awakens to A New Hope. Same script structure. Doesn't take any chances. Very weird to see Charlotte Gainsbourg cast in this.

[TGM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq5M2UcZ9FA