DIRECTOR: Roland Emmerich LEAD CAST:
Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pulman, Maika Monroe, Travis Tope, William
Fichtner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Judd Hirsch, Jessie Usher, Brent Spiner, Vivica A. Fox, Angelababy SCREENWRITER:
Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin, Nicholas Wright, James A. Woods, James
Vanderbilt PRODUCER: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, Harald
Kloser EDITOR: Adam Wolfe
MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Harald Kloser,
Thomas Wanker GENRE: Science Fiction CINEMATOGRAPHER: Markus FÖrderer DISTRIBUTOR:
20th Century Fox LOCATION: United States
RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes
Technical assessment: 3
Moral assessment: 3
Cinema rating: V14
MTRCB rating: PG
Twenty
years after the events of alien invasion in 1996, it is seen that the Earth has
rebuilt everything and is now using advanced alien technology for the
betterment of the entire planet. But then, the vengeful alien invaders haven't
given up yet, and it sends a massive ship with the alien queen, that quickly
pushes through Earth's space defenses and destroys a big part of the civilized
world. It lands in the Atlantic Ocean and starts drilling into the Earth. The
Earth Space Defense Team consisting of scientists, political leaders, and
soldiers must do everything they can to stop the aliens before they destroy the
entire planet and put humanity in total extinction.
Independence
Day: Resurgence is an attempt to bring back the glory and box-office hit it
created 20 years ago. Although the effects and magnitude of this latest and
updated sequel is much bigger and even bolder, still it lacks that necessary
emotional tension for a compelling narrative. It is as if the core of the story
is just the CGI (computer generated imagery) and not the characters. Beyond the
visual treat of aliens, spaceships and laser beams, there really is no
storyline to follow except for the seemingly obvious goal of defeating the
aliens. Although there is an attempt to humanize the story, the movie is
somehow too busy creating CGI that would destroy world landmarks and monuments
for greater effect. The result is a poorly developed narrative creating
underdeveloped characters and subplots that do not really work. If films are
only for showcase of special effect and CGI’s, the film could be considered
excellent but a film should be more than a visual feast, it should tell a story
to uplift the human spirit—and in that respect,Independence Day: Resurgence is no more
than a spectacle.
Looking
closely into some scenes separately, the film tackles various webs of significant
human relationships. Family is at the
top of the film’s priority—there is a father who sacrifices his life for the
sake if his daughter. The same daughter gives up her career and ambition to
take care of her sick father. There is a big sister that takes care of her
younger siblings. Then there is a son who takes care of his father and another
son who grieves for his parents who died many years ago from the same kind of
incident. The world may end but relationships last until beyond lifetime.
Friendships and romantic relationships come next in the hierarchy of
relationships in the film. Here, friends and lovers are also given importance.
After all, these are important relationships that really matter in one’s life. It
is also seen in the film how world unity, teamwork and camaraderie can save the
planet. However, dominance of men over women is still apparent. For more than
one occasion, women are portrayed as someone who cannot finish a task, and the
men are the ones who take over. Men of different colors, religion and creed are
also present in the film—to add texture perhaps or maintain the global
magnitude of the conflict—but then, they are shown as apparently inferior, if
not mocked for being superior. There is cursing here and there and use of crass
language in the film along with predominantly violent visuals so CINEMA deems Independence
Day: Resurgence as appropriate only for audiences aged 14 and above.
