Independence Day: Resurgence

African dictator, our hero! I saw the dubbed version (almost everybody from part 1 was in it again!) to enhance nostalgia and it worked. The president is a crazy master chef, like in part 1, even though this time his speech is less impressive. On the other hand, it’s the typical sequel horse-shit where the catchphrases from part 1 are repeated and the main tough guys’ kids continue in their footsteps. Remember the president’s little girl? Of course she’s a gofer in the White House and in the end gets into the fighter cockpit and kicks ET ass. Emmerlich makes the aliens return in a bigger ship than they had last time, with stylish destruction that he didn’t take so much care over than he used to. Bored of destroying historical monuments? Is he? Wil the planet get destroyed next time? In acting terms, it’s Pullman who makes the movie work and Jeff Goldblum is good, but his Levinson is already a hero and no longer a cable guy, so it doesn’t come across so funny. Great visuals, beautiful battles, but could have been less confused. The white ball is super. Funniest moments: homosexual death + William Fincher promotes + financial auditor with a gun. The finale in the desert is a feast for the eyes. I enjoyed it. (26/06/2016)

I am not entirely sure what the viewers in the USA expected. The sequel to Independence Day went to the absolute human extremes that we, as the viewers would never have imagined. This means that Roland Emmerich outdid himself once again and he painted a future involving aliens and all that comes with it. The most striking thing of it all is American patriotism that is literally gushing from every single scene. If he were to add that the film is being broadcast on TV America to a hundred and fifty countries of the world, where they interrupted all programming only to show this, nobody would have been surprised. On the other hand, I am a bit disappointed that Roland isn’t able to poke some fun at himself and that he didn’t turn this film into a sequel to Starship Troopers. As far as the screenplay is concerned, there was certainly hope for that. But he did manage to prepare a perfect digital visual that saves him wherever possible and that managed to save the rest of the film as well. That is actually the only thing that ensures the quality of this movie and that elevates it to the level of at least your standard Emmerich movie. So what was it that we actually wanted? (11/05/2017)

What more can I say? An old liberal, all of whose ships have already sailed, but who miraculously continues to knead his overpriced anachronistic visions united by states of love and tolerance. It's half scandalous and half terribly contagious. When two old gays heartbreakingly say goodbye on the screen or Bill Pullman is pulling humanity together with another speech just after a brain collapse, it reminds me why I love Roland so much. He brought the over the top principle very over the top. He doesn't understand the business as much as Michael Bay, so even a meeting of a Chinese sexy wonder, an American yuppie, an Australian surfer, a Jewish morose and an intergalactic ball on the autopsy table looks like a magical mistake, which is a bit unknown to the viewer. The film is best described by two scenes - old Levinson, who sells a discounted book How I Saved the World to comatose retirees, and Dr. Ocun, who immediately begins to kick alien ass after waking up from a 7,300-day coma. This is exactly Independence Day 2. (I'd really need to see part three, btw) (30/06/2016)

Does anyone still find this entertaining today, in age of Interstellar, Gravity and The Martian? There is no paradigmatic shift when compared to the twenty-year-old (!) original; instead, everything is just multiplied – the number of characters, fighter planes, the size of the space ships, the number of presidents and their speeches with patriotic background music. The spectacular and loud action begins almost immediately, lasts 100 minutes and is denser than in the first Independence Day, but EVERYTHING seems borrowed from somewhere and there is not a SINGLE innovative element in the entire movie. Personally, what made me suffer the most were the characters and their insipid dialogue and blatant stupidity, which might have seemed funny and cool in the 1990s, but today?! The best moment for me was the fadeout before the end credits when David Arnold’s famous musical theme started to play. (27/06/2016)

Emmerich remakes his own work while managing to rip off about ten other films, sprinkles in cheesy lines, pathetic speeches, and huge monumental action that casually outdoes every orgy of destruction from any action film of the last three years (which is a major asset!). It’s really just 1990s stuff. But! Christ, did the first half-hour of introducing new characters really have to be that long? And the callous treatment of protagonists from the past? At a time when the studios allow 140 minutes for whatever, Emmerich's two hours are too tight, and his weakness is shown to be the lack of finesse in his shortcuts. But the monumental epic wins in the finale. Although it’s tight and quite ineffective, I've forgiven Emmerich for worse things. PS: When I want to think back to it two days later, all I can pull from my memory are high-five planets and new interplanetary ships. (23/06/2016)